Lok Sabha Question No. 628 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-02
Subject: Call Drop Problem
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, G. HARI, FAIZAL P.P. MOHAMMED, SUSHMITA DEV, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY, GOKARAJU GANGA RAJU, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, SUNIL KUMAR SINGH, SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE, RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY, C. MAHENDRAN, SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM, K. ASHOK KUMAR, P.R. SUNDARAM, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, KAVITHA KALVAKUNTLA, BHAGWANTH KHUBA, SRINIVAS KESINENI, JAYADEV GALLA, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, SANGANNA AMARAPPA KARADI, KIRIT SOMAIYA, SHIVKUMAR CHANABASAPPA UDASI, RODMAL NAGAR, RANJEET RANJAN, OM BIRLA, NAGENDRA KUMAR PRADHAN, PREM DAS RAI, ABHISHEK SINGH, M. K. RAGHAVAN, RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS, PRALHAD VENKATESH JOSHI, JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA, MEENAKASHI LEKHI, MANOJ RAJORIA, KINJARAPU RAM MOHAN NAIDU, BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB, RAJAN BABURAO  VICHARE, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, V. SATHYABAMA, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, GEETHA KOTHAPALLI, RABINDRA KUMAR JENA, SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL, K. MARAGATHAM, BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN, BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, J. JAYASINGH THIYAGARAJ NATTERJEE, P. C. MOHAN, PRATHAP SIMHA, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA, M. B. RAJESH, DALPAT SINGH PARASTE, R.K. BHARATHI MOHAN, RAHUL KASWAN, ANIRUDHAN SAMPATH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 628

TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 nd  December, 2015

## CALL DROP PROBLEM

†628.  SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE:

SHRI G. HARI:

MOHAMMED FAIZAL:

KUMARI SUSHMITA DEV:

SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:

SHRI MULLAPPALLY

RAMACHANDRAN:

DR. GOKARAJU GANGA RAJU:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE:

SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY:

SHRI C. MAHENDRAN:

SHRI SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM:

SHRI K. ASHOK KUMAR:

SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM:

SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH

SHANKARRAO:

SHRIMATI KAVITHA KALVAKUNTLA:

SHRI BHAGWANTH KHUBA:

SHRI KESINENI NANI:

SHRI JAYADEV GALLA:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI SANGANNA AMARAPPA:

DR. KIRIT SOMAIYA:

SHRI SHIVKUMAR UDASI:

SHRI NAGAR RODMAL:

SHRIMATI RANJEET RANJAN:

SHRI OM BIRLA:

SHRI NAGENDRA KUMAR PRADHAN:

SHRI PREM DAS RAI:

SHRI ABHISHEK SINGH:

SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN:

SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI:

SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA:

SHRIMATI MEENAKASHI LEKHI:

DR. MANOJ RAJORIA:

SHRI RAM MOHAN NAIDU KINJARAPU:

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI RAJAN VICHARE:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

SHRIMATI V. SATHYA BAMA:

DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA:

SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL:

SHRIMATI K. MARAGATHAM:

SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT:

SHRI J.J.T. NATTERJEE:

SHRI P.C. MOHAN:

SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA:

SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

SHRI M.B. RAJESH:

SHRI DALPAT SINGH PARASTE:

SHRI BHARATHI MOHAN R.K.:

SHRI RAHUL KASWAN:

DR. A. SAMPATH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  has  done  a  survey  to  ascertain  the issue of call drops and conducted audit of tariff plans of telecom companies to check any undue gains due to call drops and if so, the details and outcome thereof;

(b) whether the TRAI has framed new regulations/rules regarding call drop and has recommended compensation to subscribers for call drop;

(c)

if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the telecom service providers therein;

- (d) whether the telecom operators have warned of a tariff hike in such an eventuality and if so, the steps proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (e) whether  the  absence  of  enough  spectrum,  shortage  of  towers  and  overloading  of  towers contribute to call drops and if so, the details thereof and the action proposed to ensure good network quality for customers?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) TRAI undertakes audit and assessment of Quality of Service through independent agencies.  In view of the growing concerns on call drops and other network issues, Drive Tests were conducted by Independent  Agencies  in  Mumbai,  Delhi,  in  June/July,  2015.    Following  these  drive  tests,  meeting were held in TRAI with the Chief Executive Officers of mobile companies to finalize action points for improving network conditions including measures for reducing call drops.  In this meeting the Chief Executive  Officers  of  mobile  companies  assured  TRAI  of  improvement  in  network  conditions  very shortly.    The  drive  tests  were  repeated  in  these  cities  in  September  to  assess  the  improvement  in network conditions.  These drive tests reports show improvements in network conditions of some of the service providers. TRAI has not done any audit of tariff plans to assess any gain by the service providers on account of call drop.
- (b) &(c) Yes  Sir.  TRAI  issued  the  9th Amendment  to  the  Telecom  Consumers  Protection Regulations on 16th October 2015, mandating compensation to the consumers by the mobile Service providers for call drops with effect from 1.1.2016. As per these regulations,  every originating service provider, for each call drop within its network,

(i) credit the account of the calling consumer by one rupee: Provided that such credit in the account of the calling consumer shall be limited to three dropped calls in a day;

(ii) provide  the  calling  consumer,  through    Short  Messaging  Service(SMS)/Unstructured Supplementary Service Data(USSD) message, within four hours of the occurrence of call drop, the details of amount credited in his account; and

- (iii) in case of post-paid consumers, provide the details of the credit in the next bill.'

(d) Telecom Service Providers subsequently represented to the Authority on implementation of the TRAI Regulation as the regulation would result in huge financial impact on the operators.

After consultation with the TSPs and on examination of the representations received from them on the matter, it was clarified by the Authority through Press Release dated 12.11.2015 that-

-  It  is  technically  possible  for  the  telecom  service  providers  (TSPs)  to  implement  the regulation.
-  Sufficient time has been given by the Authority to the TSPs to make suitable provisions so as to comply with the regulation.
-  The media reports about financial implications of Rs. 54,000 crore per year on account of call drop compensation are exaggerated.

(e) Change  of  frequencies  of  access  spectrum,  shift  in  usage  pattern  and  shortage  of  towers contribute  to  call  drops.  Network  optimization  is  a  continuous  process  and  TSPs  have  started optimization exercise of their network extensively.

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