The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is now seeking details of tariff plans offered by telcos across the country to make the data available on its comparison portal that was launched last month. Trai, last month, unveiled a beta portal for comparison that initially allowed users to compare the tariff plans from telcos for Delhi region, which later on added with Gujarat circle plans as well. While the site is still in beta stage, Trai is now seeking the tariff plan data from all the telcos for all the remaining 20 telecom circles. This move will mark the next phase of expansion.
"We have now put tariffs for Gujarat circle also, and are in the process of extending that further. We are in the process of asking service providers for tariff data for all additional circles...We would certainly like to get the information with us before a month," a Trai official told PTI.
Trai announced the beta portal last month, seeking comments from the public about the user interface. As of now, there are no changes to the interface and the portal can be accessed at tariff.trai.gov.in. Trai is hoping that the new plan comparison site will bring more transparency and information on multiple tariff plans by telcos, which are often confusing the subscribers. As mentioned, the beta site has details of Delhi circle, and it seems to be a successful one too.
The PTI report also added that Trai could enable tariff comparison for all circles within a fortnight, subjected to telcos submitting the information to the regulator. That said, there's no timeline mentioned in the report about the pan-India tariff data placement on the site.
"We are not recommending any tariff on the portal. We are only putting all the tariff at one place...Customer should be given all information so that they can compare plans," said the official.
Right now, if a customer is looking for special recharge plan, they have to head over to the company's portal to check that. It will be interesting to see how the segmented offers will be placed on the portal.
