The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday announced measures to protect the interests of mobile subscribers and strengthen complaint redress mechanism.
Issuing the new ‘Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal Regulations, 2012', the TRAI said a complaint centre with a toll-free consumer care number would be established. “The complaint centre will be responsible to address all the complaints received by them (subscribers). Provisions have also been made at the complaint centre to establish a customer care number which could be accessed from any other service provider's network,” it said.
Operators have also been asked to provide a start-up kit (SUK) to each subscriber at the time of enrolment, which will include the SIM card and mobile number, besides an abridged version of the citizen's charter. Similarly, the vouchers offered by the service providers have been simplified and standardised into three categories -- plan vouchers, top-up vouchers and special tariff vouchers
The TRAI has also called for the setting up of a two-member advisory committee in each of the service areas by the service provider. This will comprise one member from the consumer organisation registered with TRAI and another member from the service provider. The regulations also provide for resolution of complaints by the service provider in a time-bound manner, referred by TRAI.