Lok Sabha Question No. 1496 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-31
Subject: Tariff Hikes by Mobile Service Providers
Ministry: COMMUNICATION
Asked by: Shri Kaushalendra Kumar, Shri Giridhari Yadav, Smt. Lovely Anand, Shri Abhishek Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1496 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31 ST  JULY, 2024

## TARIFF HIKES BY MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS

## 1496   SHRI ABHISHEK BANERJEE: SMT. LOVELY ANAND: SHRI GIRIDHARI YADAV: SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the common consumers who are already facing inflation are compelled to face an additional burden on their pockets on account of almost 20-25 per cent hike in mobile tariffs of Jio, Airtel and Vodafone;
- (b) whether it is a fact that about 90 per cent of mobile consumers use the services of these three companies and thus most of the common man are being affected on this account;
- (c) whether the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) rolled out the above said hikes in line with the prescribed regulatory guidelines and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the TRAI is not being able to fulfil its responsibility;
- (e) whether the common citizen could have been  saved from such sudden additional burden today if BSNL had been strengthened;
- (f) whether the Government's objective is to maintain a competitive environment in the mobile sector so that the citizens of the country can be benefitted or to let the private companies to exercise monopoly; and
- (g) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons for the said increase in the tariff rates?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)

- (a) The tariffs have been hiked recently by 03 telecom service providers namely M/s Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BAL), M/s Reliance Jio InfoComm Ltd. (RJIL) and M/s Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL).
- (b) Yes, 90 percent of mobile consumers use the services of three companies.
- (c) & (d) Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  is  an  independent  authority  for regulation  of  tariff  for  telecommunication  services  in  India.  As  per  the  extant  regulatory  tariff provisions, tariff for telecommunication service is under forbearance. However, tariffs for services such as National Roaming, Rural Fixed Line Services, mobile number portability charges and leased

circuits etc. are regulated by TRAI. Tariff for USSD services is zero to promote financial inclusion among rural unbanked feature phone users.

- (e) BSNL is already providing Mobile services with a market share of 7.90%.

(f) & (g) In  2004,  after  determining  the  presence  of  adequate  competition  in  the  telecom services market, TRAI adopted the policy of tariff forbearance for the mobile telecom services, which is in line with many other countries of the world. TSPs are free to fix tariff for telecommunication services in a competitive market based on the market forces of demand and supply. However, as per the  requirements  of  Telecommunication  Tariff  Order  (TTO),  the  TSPs  are  obligated  to  file their tariffs with TRAI within 7 days of their launch in the market. These tariffs are then examined for their  compliance  with  the  regulatory  principles  which  include,  inter  alia  the  principles  of transparency, non-predation and non-discrimination. It may be noted that still there exists adequate competition in the market with at least 4 service providers offering competitive plans in a competitive market. It may further be mentioned that the Indian telecom tariffs are amongst the lowest in the world and in India's neighbourhood also.

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