Trai to Impose Penalty on Operators for Not Meeting QoS Norms in Q4 2017

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is looking to impose the penalty on operators who did not meet the new Quality of Service (QoS) norms for the quarter that ended December 31, 2017. As per sources close to PTI, Trai is considering imposing a penalty on operators. “We will be imposing some penalty on those who have not met the stipulated standards,” said a Trai official who did not wish to be named to the publication. However, the regulator is yet to make a final decision on the same, and the official even denied to provide details of which operators are likely to face the fine.

“A final decision on the matter is yet to be taken, the source said but declined to divulge further details about the specific operators who will face the action and the amount of ‘financial disincentive’ that may be imposed,” the report added.

Last year, Trai had changed the entire call drop metrics, and under the new metrics, a telco could be fined as much as Rs 10 lakh

for not meeting the new QoS. “The more granular level of monitoring of call drop has resulted into significant action against the service providers for October to December quarter,” the report further added.

The new call metrics came into effect from October 1, 2017, meaning the December quarter will be the first ones for telcos with new call drop metrics. In December 2017, Trai had asked telcos to prepare the call drop data based on the new metrics itself. Furthermore, the Trai already issued showcause notices to various telcos for not meeting the new call quality of service criteria set by the regulator in specific circles. An official confirmation from Trai in this regards is expected to surface in the next few days.