Lok Sabha Question No. 2308 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-30
Subject: Guidelines for Call Centres
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  2308

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 30.11.2016

## GUIDELINES  FOR  CALL  CENTRES

## 2308. SHRIMATI DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH :

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) the number of call centres functioning in the country, State-wise;
- (b) whether there are any guidelines or rules governing these call centres;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, whether the Government proposes to formulate guidelines for these call centres; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER of STATE for ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d): As per Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Telecom Enforcement Resource and  Monitoring (TERM)  Cells  register  the  Other  Service  Providers  (OSPs)  throughout  the country in their respective jurisdiction which includes call centres also. Separate data of call centers is not maintained by TERM Cells. The OSP means a company providing Application Services  such  as  call  centre,  tele-banking,  tele-medicine  tele-education,  tele-trading,  ecommerce,  network  operation  centre  and  other  IT  Enabled  Services,  by  using  Telecom Resources  provided  by  Authorised  Telecom  Service  Providers.  The  revised  Terms  and Conditions for the registration of the OSP were issued vide No.18- 2/2008-CS-I Dated: 5 th August,  2008.  These  terms  and  conditions  and  their  amendments  are  available  on  DoT website  at  the  link  http://dot.gov.in/relatedlinks/registration-under-other-service-providersosp-category.

In Telecom sector, country is divided into 22 License Service Areas (LSA) which generally are co-terminus with States, and each LSA has a TERM Cell. As on 31.10.2016, total 10,042 OSPs were registered with various LSA (details are at Annexure).

As per Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the salient features of guidelines for OSP (includes call centres) are as under:

- i. Registration  may  be  granted  to  any  company  (Registered  under  Companies  Act 1956/2013) or Limited Liability Partnership (LLP, registered under LLP Act, 2008) to provide  Application  Services.  These  service  providers  will  not  infringe  on  the jurisdiction of other Authorised Telecom Service Providers and they will not provide switched telephony.
- ii. The  registration  is  location  specific,  so  a  company  may  have  more  than  one registration. Any change in the location of OSP Centre shall require amendment in the original registration.
- iii. The  validity  of  the  registration  shall  be  20  years  from  the  date  of  issue,  unless otherwise mentioned in the registration letter.
- iv. The validity of the registration may be extended, if deemed expedient, the period of registration by 10 years at one time, upon request of the OSP, if made during the 19th year  of  the  registration  period  on  the  terms  mutually  agreed.  The  decision  of  the Authority shall be final in regard to the grant of extension.

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## Annexure

| Registered OSP Data as on 31-10-2016   | Registered OSP Data as on 31-10-2016   | Registered OSP Data as on 31-10-2016   | Registered OSP Data as on 31-10-2016                                                |
|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S.No.                                  | Licensed Service Area (LSA)            | Total Registered OSP as on 31.10.2016  | Area of Jurisdiction                                                                |
| 1                                      | Andhra Pradesh                         | 1133                                   | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana                                                           |
| 2                                      | Assam                                  | 29                                     | Assam                                                                               |
| 3                                      | Bihar                                  | 26                                     | Bihar, Jharkhand                                                                    |
| 4                                      | Delhi                                  | 2077                                   | Delhi including Ghaziabad, NOIDA, Faridabad and Gurgaon                             |
| 5                                      | Gujarat                                | 407                                    | Gujarat including UT of Daman & Diu and UT of Dadra &Nagar Haveli                   |
| 6                                      | Haryana                                | 7                                      | Haryana excluding Faridabad & Gurgaon                                               |
| 7                                      | Himachal Pradesh                       | 14                                     | Himachal Pradesh                                                                    |
| 8                                      | J&K                                    | 18                                     | J&K                                                                                 |
| 9                                      | Karnataka                              | 1384                                   | Karnataka                                                                           |
| 10                                     | Kerala                                 | 202                                    | Kerala and UT of Lakshdweep                                                         |
| 11                                     | Kolkata                                | 811                                    | Kolkata                                                                             |
| 12                                     | Madhya Pradesh                         | 125                                    | Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh                                                     |
| 13                                     | Maharashtra                            | 807                                    | State of Maharashtra excluding Mumbai                                               |
| 14                                     | Mumbai                                 | 1283                                   | Mumbai                                                                              |
| 15                                     | North East                             | 8                                      | Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur                   |
| 16                                     | Odisha                                 | 36                                     | Odisha                                                                              |
| 17                                     | Punjab                                 | 330                                    | Punjab and UT of Chandigarh                                                         |
| 18                                     | Rajasthan                              | 121                                    | Rajasthan                                                                           |
| 19                                     | Tamilnadu                              | 1046                                   | Tamilnadu and UT of Pudducherry                                                     |
| 20                                     | Uttar Pradesh (East)                   | 90                                     | State of UP(E)                                                                      |
| 21                                     | Uttar Pradesh (West)                   | 64                                     | State of UP(W) (excluding Ghaziabad and Noida city) + state of Uttarakhand          |
| 22                                     | West Bengal                            | 24                                     | State of West Bengal (excluding Kolkata) + State of Sikkim + UT of Andaman &Nicobar |
|                                        | Total                                  | 10042                                  |                                                                                     |

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