After having tightened the screws on builders, auto-rickshaw and taxi meter manufacturers, and fuel stations, the Legal Metrology Department (LMD) has the telecom sector in view. The department has sent notices to leading telecom companies, including a government company, asking them to get their ways of measuring call durations verified by the department.
After having tightened the screws on builders, auto-rickshaw and taxi meter manufacturers, and fuel stations, the Legal Metrology Department (LMD) has the telecom sector in view. The department has sent notices to leading telecom companies, including a government company, asking them to get their ways of measuring call durations verified by the department.
"Any transaction in weights and measures comes under the purview of LMD. Telecom companies' transactions are based on measurement of seconds and minutes. We have sent notices to Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Tata and MTNL, asking them about their measurement mechanism. As per our records none of these operators have come to our department to verify their instruments used for measurement, which is a violation of the LMD Act," said Sanjay Pandey, controller, LMD.
"Since these companies are operating in Maharashtra and are charging for their services, why they did not get us to verify their measuring equipment? We would want to ask them for audiotapes in which they use their measuring devices, so as to ascertain call duration," an LMD official said.
An inspector from LMD said, "If there is no certified mechanism to measure call durations, then this would have heavy implications for telecom companies. In such case, the companies will have to give an undertaking stating that they are ready to pay the compounding amount, would not indulge in such practice in future, and are ready to make corrections. The controller may compound the companies or may also move the court," said an inspector from LMD.
Last year, the LMD had collected a whopping Rs 33 crore as verification fees from various companies. The department expects the amount to increase this year, as the department will launch a heavy crackdown on various other sectors that involve transactions as per weights and measures, sources said. "Companies have to get an annual verification from the LMD. We charge fees for verification per equipment," an official said.
Rajan Mathew, director general at Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) told dna that the cellular companies have devices to measure the call duration. When asked whether these devices are verified with the meteorology department, he refused to comment.
Mahesh Uppal, consultant at Comfirst, who deals with license registration for cellular companies, told dna that the government's license form contains no clause about verifying the call duration-measuring devices. "So, it is not binding on these companies to verify their instruments with the government. It is not part of their operation," Uppal said.
Kailash Patil, a consumer said, "We are totally reliant on the telecom companies to know how much we spoke during calls and whether we are being charged as per the call duration. Since the calls amount to several hours, it is practically impossible for us to go through the itemised bills and calculate calls and durations, so as to ascertain how much we are being charged. If any government body says that they are empowered to get call durations verified, then it is a good move, at least for consumers."
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