TRAI: Ignore Dues Less Than Rs 10 for MNP

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India [TRAI] has informed all the mobile carriers to provide UPC [Unique Porting Codes] generation even if the pending dues of a postpaid customer seeking to port out is Rs. 10 or less. The telecom regulator has intended to speed up the process of providing mobile number portability [MNP] to its customers without any delay through this initiative.  

The telecom regulatory also asked all the telecom service providers to refrain the pending dues of a mobile user porting out if the sum is a small number i.e., just Rs. 10 or less than that. The telecom regulator has made this decision considering a few issues and the discomfort being faced by the stakeholders. By holding up the clearances for the generation of unique porting codes [UPCs] until the recovery of stingy amounts eventually defers the MNP process. This has become greater trouble for the stakeholders.

TRAI: Ignore Dues Less Than Rs 10 for MNP
TRAI: Ignore Dues Less Than Rs 10 for MNP

Mobile Number Portability is known as the provision that enables a mobile phone user to switch between two different telecom operators without the need of changing the mobile number. In short, it is often referred to as MNP. On Thursday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India [TRAI] informed to all mobile operators in a directive. 

It said, ‘While reviewing the status of the MNP (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2018, the Authority noted that many non-payment disconnection (NPD) service requests are being raised (by telcos) for recovery of very nominal outstanding sums from ported subscribers, as little as Rs 8.50 or Rs 0.50, etc, causing inconvenience not only to the subscriber but also to the donor/recipient operators and MNP service providers for such minuscule amounts.’

For this reason, it has asked all the telecom operators not to raise NPD requests’ if the great sum due from a ported user is Rs. 10 or below that and also not to impose any additional penal charges. TRAI has earlier permitted telecom operators to hinder the generation of UPCs if a postpaid subscriber porting out hasn’t met any prescribed requirements at the time of quitting.

The clearance of UPC generation can be done in suspension if it is the case of postpaid connections alongside bundled handsets. In such a situation, the subscriber hadn’t fulfilled the requirements with an exit clause. If a mobile user owning a corporate connection seeks to port out but hasn’t met the necessary obligations with an exit clause then, the same thing would happen i.e., the telco operator might hold the process. 

The telecom regulator informed the Cellular Operators Association of India [COAI] that it had supported ‘Rs 10 as a threshold for the closure of NPD service requests’ as part of the MNP rules during the recent discussions over the issue. COAI is an association that represents the leading telecom operators in India such as Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, and Reliance Jio. 

The proposal further stated that it had also been approved by the state-operated Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited [BSNL] and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited [MTNL]. At last, TRAI, the telecom regulator has asked a compliance report from all the telecom operators in less than 10 days. Stay tuned to this website to get the latest updates about the ongoing and upcoming telecom services across India.

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