TRAI penalty on Telcos for call drops illegal: SC

The Supreme Court of India has ruled that Telecom companies will not compensate mobile phone users for inconvenience caused by call drops.
In this regard, the apex court has struck down the TRAI Regulation which made it mandatory for telecom companies to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 2016.
The Ruling was given by the SC bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman on the appeals filed by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
SC Ruling

• SC struck down the TRAI regulation calling it as arbitrary, unreasonable and non-transparent.
• TRAI cannot punish telecom companies in the name of protecting consumer interests.
• Dismissed that telecom companies alone were to blame for call drops and were thus deficient in service.

Background

• In October 2015, TRAI had framed the rules that had imposed mandatory compensations to the subscribers for call drops.
• As per the rule, telcos (call originating service provider) were to pay consumers 1 rupee for every call drop with the penalty capped at 3 rupees per day.
• TRAI Rule was to come into force from January 1, 2016. But service providers had refused to pay compensations to the consumers, and had taken the case to SC.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016