Tag Archives: TRAI

ILN Today Post
May 13, 2016

Supreme Court drops the hammer on TRAI’s call drop regulations

By LexCounsel Law Offices of LexCounsel Law Offices
  1. Supreme Court quashes TRAI Regulations on call drops

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has quashed the Telecom Consumers Protection (Ninth Amendment) Regulations dated October 16, 2015 (“Regulations”) issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”). The Regulations, which prescribed a financial disincentive (Rs. 1 for each call drop limited to a maximum of three calls per day) to be paid by the Telecom Service Providers (“TSPs”) to their customers w.e.f. January 1, 2016 had been challenged by the TSPs before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi on the grounds of being arbitrary, unreasonable and without basis. The High Court however, upheld the validity of the Regulations on February 29, 2016 and further stated that since the same had not been stayed by the court during the proceedings, TRAI was at liberty to take appropriate steps towards its compliance.  

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ILN Today Post
April 13, 2016

Trai’s Regulations for Compensation to Consumers for Call Drops Upheld

By LexCounsel Law Offices of LexCounsel Law Offices

Call drops can be simply explained as the service provider’s ineptitude in maintaining a call between users and providing continued service once a call has been correctly established. Inadequate infrastructure, overloaded networks and fast paced expansion with poor investment by Telecom Service Providers (“TSPs”) to match the expansion are some of the reasons behind this occurrence. With the Indian Prime Minister stepping in last year and demanding that a solution be found, the Delhi High Court has expressed agreement with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) for allowing compensation for call drops.

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ILN Today Post
February 16, 2016

Sorry Mark, no “Free Basics” here – says India

By LexCounsel Law Offices of LexCounsel

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”), the Indian regulator for telecom services has on February 8, 2016 effectively said ‘NO’ to operation of “Free Basics” and similar platforms in India. TRAI has proposed the soon to be notified “Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016” (“the Regulations”) along with an Explanatory Memorandum, which without naming, prohibit operation in India of platforms such as “Free Basics”, that may interfere with the principles of “net neutrality”.

“Free Basics”, a platform by Facebook, advocated fervently by its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has faced vehement opposition by net neutrality supporters in India. The social media backlash earlier forced an Indian e-tailing giant Flipkart, to pull out of its participation in “Airtel Zero”, a platform by Airtel, the leading telecom service provider (“TSP”) in India. Zuckerberg also met the Indian Prime Minister in India and abroad, and conducted a Townhall meeting at Facebook Headquarters in San Jose in September 2015. No, there is no official confirmation that they ever discussed “Free Basics”! 

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ILN Today Post
January 29, 2016

Call drops menace – Trai’s role and whether a rupee compensation is the answer to the problem

By LexCounsel Law Offices of LexCounsel

India’s mobile phone subscribers recently crossed the one billion mark. With the cheapest call tariffs in the world, India’s mobile user base is expected to contribute to massive growth in data usage and internet accessibility through mobile phones in the near future. However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has a bigger problem on its hands. Although India definitely seems to be shining (it may also outstrip the United States in smartphone users), it cannot be denied that this shining comes with a considerable amount of whining from mobile phone users about the rapidly increasing phenomenon of “call drops”. 

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