Will review network after six months: R S Sharma

Interview with Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Within two months of taking charge, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman R S Sharma has come out with the first set of recommendations on monetary compensation for call drops to mobile users. The announcement has ruffled many in the telecom industry. Sharma tells Mansi Taneja that if operators improve their networks, there won't be any penalty. Edited excerpts:

The industry has expressed disappointment at the compensation regulation and may challenge this legally. Your comments…

We have examined the call drops situation over the past two months, after which we decided to put in place this mechanism of compensating mobile users. There has been no significant improvement in the networks in Delhi and Mumbai as, shown in our drive tests. If telecom operators improve their networks, there won't be any penalty or compensation.

Do you think operators will implement this, as it would mean a high financial payout?

Operators are responsible to provide quality services to their consumers. If there is any deficiency, we need to step in to protect consumers' right. And, that is what we have done through a regulation on compensation. To ensure fairness, we have capped the number of calls to be compensated at three.

We have given telecom service providers time to upgrade their networks. We will monitor the implementation as well as steps taken by operators to address the call drops issue. If required, we will review it after six months.

Will this compensation be applicable for both per-second and per-minute billing plans?

Operators will have to compensate mobile users for every call drop with one rupee, but restricted to three calls per day. We expect this mandatory regulation will offer relief to the aggrieved mobile subscribers because of frequent call drops, which has worsened over the past few months, and force mobile operators to improve their service quality.