Trai dials for the consumer

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday issued a regulation making it mandatory for service providers to set up call centres within 60 days and appoint nodal officers within a month for redressal of consumer grievances.

The order comes in the backdrop of complaints about the frequent failure of telecom operators in meeting the quality yardstick set by Trai.

The Trai order is referred to as the ‘Telecom Consumers Protection and Redressal of Grievances Regulations, 2007’.

The regulator also wants telecom operators to appoint one or more appellate authorities in each licensed service area within three months, for the same.

For years, Trai has been receiving complaints from telecom consumers about the absence of forum to redress grievances, apart from moving court.

Once the call centres and appellate authorities are in place, consumers are expected to get some relief.

The directive is meant to ensure quick redressal of consumer grievances and transparency in the billing system. The regulator also wants service providers to publish a ‘Manual of Practice’ for handling consumer complaints. The manual must focus on consumer rights, obligation and resolution of grievances.

The authority said if consumers are not satisfied with the redressal by the service provider, they may move consumer courts. Currently, the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) handles the disputes between service providers and a group of consumers.

Responding to a recent survey on quality of service which found that about 80% of the subscribers had difficulty in understanding telephone bills, Trai told service providers information such as applicable tariff plan, credit limit, security deposit and procedures regarding payments of bills, should be printed in easily readable font size in the bills issued to consumers.