Calls which are terminated untimely and without the will of consumers should be categorised as 'dropped calls', Congress said today, and sort mandatory compensation for all mobile users.
Party spokesman Ajay Maken told reporters that it is a matter of concern that the call drops have jumped two fold on 2G networks and 65 per cent on 3G networks in the first half of this year.
This is in spite of the fact that the call drop rate of any service provider should not exceed two per cent as per TRAI, he said, adding that the watchdog should make a weekly review and impose monthly penalty on erring mobile companies.
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Stepping up pressure on mobile operators to check call drops, the government earlier in the day had asked their promoters including Anil Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla and Sunil Mittal to directly intervene to address the issue, failing which the companies would have to face penal action.
Regulator TRAI promised final recommendations within a month on compensation to be paid by mobile operators to their customers.
Any call which is terminated untimely and without the will of the consumer should be categorised as a dropped call, the senior Congress leader said.
Making a strong plea for a national tower policy, he accused Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and TRAI of playing into the hands of corporates by declaring that mobile towers are completely safe if installed in residential areas or school buildings.
Maken's remarks came on a day when the telecom watchdog has floated a draft paper on the issue of call drops and is currently reviewing the quality of services being offered by various operators.
