Lok Sabha Question No. 1211 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-25
Subject: Refund of Unspent Balance of Mobile Subscribers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: SRIRAM MALYADRI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1211 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 th   JULY, 2018

## REFUND OF UNSPENT BALANCE OF MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS

1211. SHRI MALYADRI SRIRAM:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued any directive to  refund unspent balance of mobile subscribers, in view of discontinuation of its voice services and if so, the details thereof;

- (b) the response of the telecom operators thereto; and
- (c) the  number  of  customers  who  received  their  refund  along  with  the  amount refunded by the telecom operators?

## ANSWER

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

(a) Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  issued  the  following  Directions  to  the Service  Providers  who  have  recently  closed  their  services  /  surrendered  their  license, directing them to refund the unspent balance of mobile subscribers:

- (i) Directions vide letter No.116-23/2017-NSL-II dated 19 th  January 2018 were issued by TRAI to M/s Reliance Communications Limited and M/s Reliance Telecom  Ltd.  to  facilitate  refund  of  unspent  balance  of  pre-paid  mobile subscribers and security  deposit  of  the  post  paid  subscribers  pursuant  to closure of 2G/GSM, CDMA services and discontinuation of voice services in all the licensed services areas.
- (ii) Direction  vide  letter  No.  116-22/2017-NSL-II  dated  23 rd   April  2018  was issued by TRAI to M/s Aircel Ltd. and M/s Dishnet Wireless Ltd., in order to facilitate  refund  of  unspent  balance  of  pre-paid  mobile  subscribers  and security  deposit  of  the  post  paid  subscribers  pursuant  to  surrender  of License in licensed service areas of Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (West).

- (b) & (c) The response of the service providers is as follows:
- (i) M/s  Reliance  Communications  Ltd  and  M/s  Reliance  Telecom  Ltd  have submitted  that  they  are  duly  refunding  to  the  post-paid  subscribers  on account of security deposits made by such subscribers in accordance with the extant Regulations.  As far as pre-paid subscribers are concerned, M/s RCL & M/s RTL have intimated that they are ready with the process and online application to get the authentication and banking details from the prepaid subscribers to process refund of unspent balance.  However, M/s RCL & M/s RTL have submitted that they have entered into the Strategic Debt Restructuring  process  and  are  currently  under  the  control  of  the  lenders. No  refund  has  been  made  to  pre-paid  subscribers  as  per  information available.
- (ii) As  far  as  the  subscribers  of  M/s  Aircel  are  concerned,  pursuant  to  an application filed  by  the  Corporate  Debtor(s)  before  the  National Company Law  Tribunal  (NCLT),  Mumbai  Bench,  in  terms  of  Section  10  of  the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 read with the rules and regulations framed thereunder, corporate insolvency resolution process has commenced and the NCLT has appointed an Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) for the Corporate Debtor(s) vide order dated 12 th  March 2018 in  respect  of  M/s  Aircel  Ltd.  The  compliance  of  the  Direction  dated 23 rd   April  2018  has  been  sought  from  the  IRP,  but  the  matter  is  pending with  IRP.    No  refund  has  been  made  to  pre-paid  subscriber  as  per information available.

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