Lok Sabha Question No. 1666 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-13
Subject: Call Drops
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE, GOPAL CHINAYYA SHETTY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1666 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019

## CALL DROPS

1666.  ADV. JOICE GEORGE: SHRI GOPAL SHETTY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended in October, 2015 to levy penalty on all the telecom companies in case of call drop from 1st January, 2016 and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (b) whether the Government has issued show cause notices to the erring telecom firms for call drop violations recently and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has been receiving many complaints about the issue and if so, the details thereof during the last three years;
- (d) whether the Government has any compensatory provision for the customers on the call drop issue;
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with compensation per call drop to be paid by the TSP; and
- (f) whether  the  provision  of  informing  their  subscribers  by  the  telecom  companies regarding compensation has also been made in this regard and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## 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 (TRAI) has not recommended in October 2015 to  levy  penalty  on  all  the  telecom  companies in  case of call drop from 1st January 2016. However,  vide  Telecom  Consumers  Protection  (9th  Amendment)  Regulation,  2015  dated 16th October 2015, TRAI had mandated compensation to consumers of mobile services at the rate of Rs. 1/- per drop call, subject to a maximum of Rs. 3/- per day per subscriber by the concerned TSP and also (i) provide the calling consumer, through SMS/USSD message, within four hours of the occurrence of call drop, the details of amount in his account; and (ii) in case of post-paid consumers, provide the details of the credit in the next bill.  However, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has set aside the regulation vide Order dated 11th May, 2016.

(b) M/s  Idea  has  been  issued  show  cause  notices  in  respect  of  four  License  Service Areas  (LSAs)  i.e.  Assam,  Jammu  &  Kashmir,  Himachal  Pradesh  &  North  East    and  M/s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been  issued show cause notice in respect of one LSA i.e. West Bengal for the quarter ending September 2018. The notices have been issued to M/s Idea & M/s BSNL on 18 th January 2019.

(c) The number of incidents of call drops reported through Centralised Public Grievance Redressal  And  Monitoring  System  (CPGRAMS)  to  Department  of    Telecommunications (DoT)  for  the  last  three  years  is    given  at Annexure-I .  TRAI  has  also  received  575 complaints in 2016,  488 complaints in 2017 & 1109 complaints in 2018 on Call Drops.

(d) to (f) The Government does not have any such provisions, in view of response at (a) above.

State/  Union  Territory-wise,  total  number  of  consumer  complaints  received  in  Public Grievances  Cell,  DoT  through  CPGRAMS  against  Call  drop/  improper  Network  coverage during the last three years as follows:

| Sr.No.   | Name of State/ UT           |   Received During Year |   Received During Year |   Received During Year |
|----------|-----------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
| Sr.No.   | Name of State/ UT           |                   2016 |                   2017 |                   2018 |
| 1        | Andaman And Nicobar Islands |                      3 |                      8 |                      5 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh              |                     56 |                     58 |                     23 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh           |                      5 |                     11 |                      2 |
| 4        | Assam                       |                     93 |                     93 |                     27 |
| 5        | Bihar                       |                    164 |                    331 |                     70 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                  |                    139 |                     71 |                      7 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                |                     27 |                     91 |                     29 |
| 8        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli      |                      1 |                      3 |                      0 |
| 9        | Daman and Diu               |                      0 |                      0 |                      0 |
| 10       | Delhi                       |                    433 |                    628 |                    190 |
| 11       | Goa                         |                      9 |                     13 |                      2 |
| 12       | Gujarat                     |                    117 |                    197 |                     56 |
| 13       | Haryana                     |                    182 |                    230 |                     91 |
| 14       | Himachal Pradesh            |                     22 |                     37 |                      8 |
| 15       | Jammu And Kashmir           |                     60 |                    113 |                     18 |
| 16       | Jharkhand                   |                    114 |                    105 |                     31 |
| 17       | Karnataka                   |                     86 |                    146 |                    137 |
| 18       | Kerala                      |                     27 |                     42 |                     33 |
| 19       | Lakshadweep                 |                      0 |                      0 |                      0 |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh              |                     86 |                    124 |                     22 |
| 21       | Maharashtra                 |                    453 |                    513 |                    177 |
| 22       | Manipur                     |                      0 |                      1 |                      0 |
| 23       | Meghalaya                   |                      7 |                      8 |                      2 |
| 24       | Mizoram                     |                      6 |                      5 |                      1 |
| 25       | Nagaland                    |                      1 |                      1 |                      0 |
| 26       | Odisha                      |                     88 |                    119 |                     72 |
| 27       | Puducherry                  |                      8 |                      9 |                      1 |
| 28       | Punjab                      |                     80 |                     65 |                     41 |
| 29       | Rajasthan                   |                    159 |                    232 |                     89 |
| 30       | Sikkim                      |                      2 |                      3 |                      0 |
| 31       | Tamilnadu                   |                    156 |                    161 |                     73 |
| 32       | Telangana                   |                     96 |                     83 |                     30 |
| 33       | Tripura                     |                     10 |                     23 |                      2 |
| 34       | Uttar Pradesh               |                    421 |                    654 |                    300 |
| 35       | Uttarakhand                 |                     40 |                     75 |                     30 |
| 36       | West Bengal                 |                    143 |                    281 |                    109 |
| Total    | Total                       |                   3294 |                   4534 |                   1678 |

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