Last week, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) directed all the major telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio to submit data on recharge pattern details. In response to the request as reported by ET Telecom, telcos have urged Trai to provide time till April 20, 2020, as the requested information is vast and compilation process would take more than 24 hours. Since the government of India has extended the lockdown period until May 03, 2020, Trai is creating a blue structure which would make guidelines for telecom operators on providing prepaid benefits and services to subscribers in the second phase of lockdown period.
Telecom Operators have Provided Benefits of More than 600 Crore
Telecom operators are giving their best efforts to maintain seamless connectivity and ensure that subscribers get telecom services at difficult times. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea extended the validity of nearly 80 million and 100 million subscribers who belonged to the category of daily wage earners and migrant workers. Not only this, telco giants credited talk time credit of Rs 10 in the accounts of prepaid subscribers to keep them connected with their loved ones.
Data on Recharge Pattern Details Will Aid Trai
Trai is creating a plan which will ensure that prepaid subscribers get the benefits and services in the second phase of the lockdown period. In the letter which was sent to all the telcos, Trai has asked information regarding the account of subscribers who have received the benefits of extended validity and talk time credit. Also, Trai had asked for the list of subscribers whose account balance were zero, and no subsequent recharge was done in the month of February. With all the information, Trai will create a plan which will offer uniform benefits and services to prepaid subscribers.
Prepaid Benefits Cannot Be Extended to Entire Subscriber Base
As per telecom operators, the benefits of extended validity and talk time credit has been given to subscribers who belong to the category of the daily wage earner and migrant workers. It would be difficult for telcos to extended the benefits to all active subscribers as it will financially burden the telcos. Telcos have already asked for financial aid from the regulatory body to provide benefits and services in the second phase of lockdown.
