Lok Sabha Question No. 547 (STARRED), answered on 2017-04-12
Subject: Complaints against Telecom Service Providers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.547 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 TH   APRIL, 2017

## COMPLAINTS AGAINST TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS

## *547. SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  number  of  complaints  received  by  the  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India (TRAI) from subscribers against the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) during each of the last three years and the current year, TSP-wise along with the nature of such complaints:
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  found  that  TSPs  are  at  fault  in  addressing  the  said complaints in an effective and time bound manner and if so, the details thereof along with the corrective measures taken/being taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether TRAI has any mechanism to monitor the steps taken by TSPs in addressing the grievances of subscribers and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Contd…….2/-

STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (d)  OF  LOK    SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.547  FOR    12 TH   APRIL,  2017  REGARDING 'COMPLAINTS AGAINST TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS '.

(a) to (d) The  nature  of  complaints  received  by  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India (TRAI)  can  be  broadly  categorized  under  the  headings  such  as  Billing  and  Metering Complaint,  Poor  Mobile  Signal/Call  Drop,  Disruption  of  Service/Delay  in  Fault  Repair, Broadband/Internet related including Poor Speed of Broadband, Tariff Plan related including Wrong  Charging  of  Calls  for  Prepaid,  Unsolicited  Commercial  Communication  related, Number Portability  related,  Non-Termination  of  Service/Billing  after  Termination  of  Service related, etc. The number of complaints received by TRAI from subscribers against Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) during each of the last three years and current year, TSP wise is enclosed  as Annexure-I .  These  complaints  were  forwarded  to  the  concerned  service providers for taking appropriate action.

As per provisions of the TRAI Act, 1997, TRAI has laid down the framework for redressal  of  complaints  by  TSPs  through  'The  Telecom  Consumer  Complaint  Redressal Regulations, 2012.'  These regulations provide for a two tier complaint redressal mechanism viz.'Complaint  Centre'  and  'Appellate  Authority'.    TRAI  monitors  the  performance  of Complaint Centres and Appellate Authorities through quarterly reports received from TSPs. TRAI has also been undertaking audit of the complaint handling process of service providers through  the  system  of  'Metering  and  Billing  Audit'.  As  per  this  mechanism,  the  service providers are required to have their metering and billing system audited annually through one of the auditors from the panel of auditors notified by TRAI.  Further, they have to submit to TRAI an audit report by 31 st July and action taken report by 15 th November every year.

For assessing the effectiveness of complaint centre/call centre, TRAI has prescribed two  parameters  relating  to  Response  time  to  the  customer  for  assistance  -'percentage  of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds (benchmark <95%)' and 'Assistance  of  call  centre/customer  care  (benchmark  <95%)'.  TRAI  has  been  monitoring performance  of  service  providers  against  the  benchmarks  for  these  parameters  through quarterly performance monitoring reports submitted by service providers. Besides reporting the performance of TSPs on its website for information to public, financial disincentives are also  imposed  by  TRAI  on  TSPs  for  non-compliance  of  prescribed  benchmarks.  Details  of financial disincentives imposed by TRAI on various TSPs are enclosed as Annexure-II .

The customers can also register their grievances through Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) portal of Government of India. The complaints received through CPGRAMS portal are also forwarded to the concerned TSPs for taking  appropriate  action.  The  TSPs  handles  the  grievances  received  through  CPGRAMS portal  under  the  existing  framework  of  redressal  of  grievances.  The  details  of  complaints received  on  CPGRAMS  and forwarded  to  TSPs  for  resolution  during  last  three  years  are enclosed as Annexure-III .

Contd…….3/-

Annexure-I Number of complaints received by TRAI from subscribers against TSPs

| S. No.   | Service Provider   | YEAR   | YEAR   | YEAR   | YEAR                            |
|----------|--------------------|--------|--------|--------|---------------------------------|
|          |                    | 2014   | 2015   | 2016   | 2017 (01.01.2017 to 28.02.2017) |
| 1        | AIRCEL/ DISHNET    | 1068   | 1085   | 777    | 96                              |
| 2        | AIRTEL             | 4258   | 6131   | 6599   | 733                             |
| 3        | LOOP               | 333    | 73     | -      | -                               |
| 4        | HFCL / QUADRANT    | 9      | 19     | 26     | -                               |
| 5        | IDEA               | 2145   | 2594   | 2131   | 321                             |
| 6        | RELIANCE           | 3299   | 3527   | 3433   | 403                             |
| 7        | MTS                | 544    | 801    | 405    | 20                              |
| 8        | TATA               | 1707   | 1464   | 771    | 75                              |
| 9        | UNINOR/ TELENOR    | 246    | 193    | 105    | 6                               |
| 10       | VODAFONE           | 4773   | 5387   | 4210   | 638                             |
| 11       | VIDEOCON           | 43     | 49     | 36     | 6                               |
| 12       | MTNL               | 546    | 522    | 318    | 55                              |
| 13       | BSNL               | 1410   | 1444   | 963    | 123                             |
| 14       | S TEL              | 2      | 1      | -      | -                               |
| 15       | ETISLAT            | 3      | 3      | -      | -                               |
| 16       | RJIO               | -      | -      | -      | 63                              |
|          | TOTAL              | 20386  | 23293  | 19774  | 2539                            |

MTS-Systema Shyam Teleservices Limited

MTNL - Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

BSNL - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

RJIO - Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited

Contd…….4/-

## Annexure-II

Details of financial disincentives imposed by TRAI on various TSPs for non-compliance of the provisions of 'The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2010 '

| Name of the Service Provider/Company   |   Amount Imposed (in Rs.) | Amount Waived off (in Rs.)   |   Net Amount Payable (in Rs.) |   Amount Collected (in Rs.) | Period of violation   |
|----------------------------------------|---------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------|
| Bharti Airtel Ltd.                     |                    100000 |                              |                        100000 |                      100000 | 2012-13               |
| Reliance                               |                 175575000 | 144848000                    |                      30727000 |                    30727000 | 2013-14               |
| Aircel                                 |                  20258000 |                              |                      20258000 |                    20258000 |                       |
| Tata                                   |                  12226000 |                              |                      12226000 |                    12226000 |                       |
| Idea                                   |                   9632000 |                              |                       9632000 |                     9662000 |                       |
| Vodafone                               |                   4544000 |                              |                       4544000 |                     4495000 |                       |
| Unitech                                |                   4499000 |                              |                       4499000 |                     4499000 |                       |
| Bharti Airtel Ltd.                     |                   2215000 |                              |                       2215000 |                     2164000 |                       |
| Sistema Shyam (MTS)                    |                  16330000 |                              |                      16330000 |                    16330000 |                       |
| Videocon                               |                    315000 |                              |                        315000 |                      315000 |                       |
| Loop Mobile                            |                    160000 |                              |                        160000 |                      160000 |                       |
| MTNL                                   |                     30000 |                              |                         30000 |                           0 |                       |
| BSNL                                   |                      5000 |                              |                          5000 |                        5000 |                       |
| Quadrant (HFCL)                        |                      5000 |                              |                          5000 |                        5000 |                       |
| Reliance                               |                  15887000 |                              |                      15887000 |                    15887000 | 2014-15               |
| Aircel                                 |                    540500 |                              |                        540500 |                      540500 |                       |
| Tata                                   |                   6722000 |                              |                       6722000 |                     6722000 |                       |
| Idea                                   |                    279000 |                              |                        279000 |                      249000 |                       |
| Vodafone                               |                    667500 |                              |                        667500 |                      617500 |                       |
| Unitech                                |                    291500 |                              |                        291500 |                      291500 |                       |
| Bharti Airtel Ltd.                     |                    426500 |                              |                        426500 |                      426500 |                       |
| Sistema Shyam                          |                   3956500 |                              |                       3956500 |                     3956500 |                       |
| Aircel                                 |                    288500 |                              |                        288500 |                      288500 | 2015-16               |
| Bharti Airtel Ltd.                     |                   4725500 |                              |                       4725500 |                     4725500 |                       |
| BSNL                                   |                  28177000 | 86000                        |                      28091000 |                     3482500 |                       |
| Idea                                   |                    191000 |                              |                        191000 |                      191000 |                       |
| Reliance                               |                  15548000 |                              |                      15548000 |                    15548000 |                       |
| Sistema Shyam                          |                    254000 |                              |                        254000 |                      254000 |                       |
| Tata                                   |                  11027000 |                              |                      11027000 |                    11027000 |                       |
| Telenor                                |                    423000 |                              |                        423000 |                      423000 |                       |
| Videocon                               |                     69000 |                              |                         69000 |                       69000 |                       |
| Vodafone                               |                    341000 |                              |                        341000 |                      341000 |                       |
| Aircel                                 |                   2496000 |                              |                       2496000 |                      633000 | 2016-17               |
| Bharti Airtel Ltd.                     |                   2315500 |                              |                       2315500 |                     2316000 |                       |
| BSNL                                   |                  24910000 | 27000                        |                      24883000 |                           0 |                       |
| Idea                                   |                   1382000 |                              |                       1382000 |                     1382000 |                       |
| Reliance                               |                  30129000 |                              |                      30129000 |                    25813000 |                       |
| Sistema Shyam                          |                    473500 |                              |                        473500 |                      473500 |                       |
| Tata                                   |                   5946500 |                              |                       5946500 |                     5946500 |                       |
| Telenor                                |                   1720500 |                              |                       1720500 |                     1720500 |                       |
| Vodafone                               |                    926000 |                              |                        926000 |                      585500 |                       |
| Aircel                                 |                    306000 |                              |                        306000 |                           0 | 2017-18               |
| Bharti Airtel Ltd.                     |                    324500 |                              |                        324500 |                           0 |                       |
| BSNL                                   |                    670500 |                              |                        670500 |                           0 |                       |
| Idea                                   |                    229500 |                              |                        229500 |                           0 |                       |
| Reliance                               |                   4156000 |                              |                       4156000 |                           0 |                       |
| Tata                                   |                    268500 |                              |                        268500 |                           0 |                       |
| Telenor                                |                     27000 |                              |                         27000 |                           0 |                       |
| Vodafone                               |                    131000 |                              |                        131000 |                           0 |                       |
| Total                                  |                 412120500 | 144961000                    |                     267159500 |                   204856000 |                       |

BSNL - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited; MTNL - Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

## Annexure-III

## Number of complaints registered on CPGRAMS and forwarded to TSPs for disposal

| Year                     | 2014       | 2014     | 2015       | 2015     | 2016       | 2016     | 2017 (till 05.04.2017)   | 2017 (till 05.04.2017)   | Total      | Total    |
|--------------------------|------------|----------|------------|----------|------------|----------|--------------------------|--------------------------|------------|----------|
| Telecom Service Provider | Registered | Disposed | Registered | Disposed | Registered | Disposed | Registered               | Disposed                 | Registered | Disposed |
| Aircel                   | 1281       | 1196     | 1456       | 1456     | 1148       | 1209     | 211                      | 216                      | 4096       | 4077     |
| Airtel                   | 3753       | 3602     | 4408       | 4324     | 4875       | 4958     | 2014                     | 2003                     | 15050      | 14887    |
| Idea                     | 2256       | 2187     | 2191       | 2186     | 2402       | 2427     | 749                      | 737                      | 7598       | 7537     |
| MTNL                     | 13587      | 13320    | 10317      | 10129    | 7992       | 8223     | 1548                     | 1603                     | 33444      | 33275    |
| BSNL                     | 18155      | 16727    | 29280      | 27968    | 35874      | 36051    | 7360                     | 8994                     | 90669      | 89740    |
| RCOM                     | 4461       | 4267     | 4378       | 4257     | 5037       | 5204     | 936                      | 985                      | 14812      | 14713    |
| MTS                      | 541        | 501      | 697        | 721      | 359        | 389      | 56                       | 57                       | 1653       | 1668     |
| Tata                     | 1802       | 1746     | 1266       | 1268     | 933        | 950      | 217                      | 235                      | 4218       | 4199     |
| RJIO                     | -          | -        | -          | -        | 869        | 802      | 496                      | 500                      | 1365       | 1302     |
| Vodafone                 | 3654       | 3500     | 3265       | 3233     | 3101       | 3190     | 935                      | 916                      | 10955      | 10839    |
| HFCL                     | 36         | 31       | 59         | 62       | 94         | 95       | 26                       | 21                       | 215        | 209      |
| Telewings                | 491        | 472      | 286        | 274      | 271        | 286      | 57                       | 64                       | 1105       | 1096     |
| Total                    | 50017      | 47549    | 57603      | 55878    | 62955      | 63784    | 14605                    | 16331                    | 185180     | 183542   |

BSNL - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

MTNL - Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

MTS - Systema Shyam Teleservices Limited

RCOM - Reliance Communications Limited

RJIO - Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited

HFCL - HFCL/ Quadrant

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