TRAI releases Consultation Paper on "Transparency in Publishing of Tariff Offers"- (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) (27 Nov 2019)

MANU/TRAI/0135/2019

Media and Communication

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a Consultation Paper on "Transparency in Publishing of Tariff Offers". Given the explosive growth and scale of sweeping changes seen in the last three decades, it is to state the obvious that the telecom service sector is dynamic. The dynamism gets exemplified in fast changing landscape as regards various operational aspects viz., the nature and composition of tariffs, frequency of changes in tariff, the preferred modes of communication and along with paradigm shift in the modern age communication. Typically, in the marketplace, consumer faces situation of lack of information, misleading information, unclear or hard to find information and information difficult to assess and compare which affects their ability to make informed choice which best serves their needs. Therefore, the need for transparent sharing of complete set of information relating, inter-alia, to tariff i.e. "rate and related conditions for provision of service", to protect consumer interests between Telecom Service Providers and customers need no over-emphasis. At the core of consumer protection lies the aspect of transparency in communication of conditions of provision of goods or service.

Further, the TRAI has been intermittently receiving a significant number of complaints from the individual consumers which though varied in nature can surely be said to be rooted in lack of transparency in disclosure of tariff information. Therefore, it is felt that a comprehensive review of extant provisions aimed at transparency relating to flow of information from telecom service providers to consumers is essential. Accordingly, this Consultation Paper has been issued with the objective of empowering consumers by making available all relevant information to them and to eliminate the instances of adverse choices made by consumers. The scope of the present consultation paper is limited to review of transparency requirements in communication of tariff offers by the service providers to the subscribers.

Tags : CONSULTATION PAPER RELEASE TARIFF OFFERS