Airtel faces maximum complaints for MNP rejection

Telecom major Bharti Airtel faces the largest number of complaints at 893 for rejecting mobile number portability (MNP requests), followed by Vodafone and Idea Cellular, Parliament was informed today.

"Bharti Airtel faces 893 complaints, while Vodafone and Idea Cellular had 792 and 313 complaints, respectively," Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

There were 307 complaints against Reliance Communications, 149 against Tata Teleservices and 134 complaints against Loop, he added.

At the end of October 2011, Bharti Airtel had the largest subscriber base of 173.73 million, while Vodafone and Idea Cellular had 145.91 million and 101.81 million, respectively.

Under MNP, subscribers can switch their cellular operator while retaining their mobile number in a licensed area.

It also helps in increasing competition between the service providers and acts as a catalyst for the service providers to improve the quality of service.

"As per the available data as on November 30, 19 million mobile customers have successfully ported their mobile numbers to the service provider of their choice," Deora said.

Based on the complaints received, information was sought from the operators on the rejections and in case of violations, showcause notices were issued.

"So far, the show cause notices have been issued to Bharti Airtel, Idea, Loop, Reliance and Vodafone," Deora said adding that the replies from the operators have been examined.

In cases where it has been observed that the service provider has violated the provisions on MNP regulations, legal action as per the provisions of Trai Act 1997 (as amended) by Trai is under process, he added.