TRAI to conduct open house discussion on call drops on Oct 1

Sectoral regulator TRAI will conduct an open house discussion on call drops on October 1 even as it refused to extend the date for sending comments on its consultation paper on the issue.
The last date to send comments on the consultation paper on compensation to the consumers in the event of calls drops is September 21 while that of counter-comments is September 28.
Some stakeholders have sought to extend the last date for sending comments, which have not been agreed by the Authority, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement today.
TRAI said it will hold an open house discussion regarding the paper on October 1.

The regulator is likely to come out with recommendations on call drops and compensation to consumers by mid-October.
It has proposed that any call which gets dropped within five seconds would not be charged, and in case a call gets dropped any time after five seconds, the last pulse of the call should not be included for the purpose of charging.
Call drops have become a severe problem in recent months and concerns have been raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well, on the issue.