Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has confirmed TRAI’s call drop compensation scheme will continue to move forward as per schedule. The proclamation comes in the midst of rising pressure from telecom operators which have even threatened to take the government to court over the issue.
Prasad made the declaration while speaking at Microsoft’s ‘Future Unleashed: Accelerating India’ event in Mumbai. While he conceded that the network providers may have a point, he feels the government’s 1st priority is towards consumer interest. This in turn means it cannot go back on the promises it made towards them to penalize call drops.
His statements echo TRAI chairman RS Sharma’s thoughts on the matter. As per PTI, he too refused to stop the initiative but promised to look into the issues brought up by companies. Sharma asserted that the call drop order cannot be rolled back now, as it is a valid law which cannot be overturned or annulled.
However, he agreed to launch an investigation into whether TRAI can legally review the program and plans to announce its findings to telecom players within a week. He went on to state that the benchmark for call drops was currently at 2% and the administration would go all-out to help brands improve their quality of service.
Also See: Telcos threaten tariff hike to make up for paying call drop compensation
To recall, the call drop compensation scheme asks providers to pay customers Rs 1 per call drop. The penalty is limited to 3 instances per day. Industry body COAI fears the system can be manipulated by enterprising individuals and could result in a climb in call drops, leading to brands coughing up nearly Rs 150 crore every day.