India had a total of 840.12 million wireless broadband service users as of August 31, 2023. An interesting fact here - since its implementation, a total of 877.43 million MNP (Mobile Number Portability) requests have been registered as of August 31, 2023. MNP requests are made by the customer when he/she wants to switch their current telecom operator but wants to retain the same number. According to a report from thehindubusinessline, over 2 million MNP requests are rejected every month in India.
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Why are 2 Million MNP Requests Rejected in India Every Month?
There's no simple answer to this. A multitude of reasons are possible for why MNP requests are rejected. However, Jio has listed a few reasons and they don't sound good.
As per the report, Jio, along with MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India (MITS) has written to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), about the unfair means some Indian telcos are using to create scenarios where MNPs are rejected.
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Jio said that the measures currently in place to help customers port their numbers from one operator to another are actually being misused by competitors to prevent porting. As per current rules, a customer porting to another telco needs to clear all of the outstanding dues with the current operator. However, some telcos are withholding pending dues information from the customers and delaying their MNP requests or getting them rejected. Thus, Jio has called for the rules around non-payment of dues preventing the customer from porting to be abolished.
Jio also said that some telcos are misleading customers and getting their porting requests cancelled by leveraging the rules around SMS-based porting. The telco said that telcos from whose network a customer is trying to port will call the customer posing as the other telco (to which the customer is trying to port) and initiate a process that will actually end up cancelling the porting request. It is a serious issue for the customers and a very unethical practice from the telecom company that has engaged in such a process. Thus, Jio has requested that the SMS-based process should be abolished.
