Call drops: Penalties on operators for deficient service doubled

New Delhi, Oct 15: The government on Thursday doubled penalties for deficient services on cellular service providers amid the call drop imbroglio as per new regulations announced by India's telecom regulator.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on its website, released new regulations termed 'The standards of cellular mobile telephone service' which says that an operator will now be fined up to Rs.1 lakh for first non-complince with benchmarks in a quarter compared to the previous penalty of Rs.50,000.

Cellular operators' service is benchmarked on nearly 15 parameters that come under two heads - technical and customer care services.

Amidst the furore of call drops which comes under the technical category, the TRAI also said that non-compliance with the benchmark of the same parameter in two or more consecutive quarters will result in a penalty up to Rs.1.5 lakh and a fine up to Rs. 2 lakh can be levied for each consecutive contravention thereof.

In addition, it has clarified that the amount of fine will go back to Rs.1 lakh if the operator has met the benchmark of the parameter between two defaulting quarters.

IANS