Trai prescribes rate of Rs 6.46 for mobile number portability service

Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday prescribed nearly 66 per cent cut in per transaction charge to Rs 6.46 for port out services offered by mobile number portability service providers (MNPSPs).

"After considering all the comments and other information available on record, the authority has issued 'Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Per Port Transaction Charge and Dipping Charge (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2019' prescribing the PPTC of Rs 6.46 for each port request, on 30 September, 2019," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

The regulations would come into effect from November 11, 2019, it added.

"The Telecommunication Tariff (Forty-Ninth Amendment) Order, 2009 prescribed the Per Port Transaction Charge (PPTC)...as ceiling for the tariff that could be charged from subscriber by the recipient operator for availing MNP services. Now, with notification of this amendment...the ceiling for the tariff that could be charged from subscriber by the recipient operator stands automatically reduced," TRAI said.

However, the recipient operators are free to charge a lesser amount from the subscribers availing mobile number portability services, it added.

TRAI had previously fixed Rs 19 as PPTC for mobile number portability services offered by mobile number portability service providers.

Last week, Trai extended to November 11, the deadline for implementation of new mobile number portability rules for consumers wanting to switch to a new operator without changing their mobile number. The revamped mobile number portability (MNP) or port out rules aim to makes the entire process faster and simpler, and Trai has prescribed two days timeline for port out requests within a service area, cutting the migration process from seven days.