TRAI Introduces Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations 2012

Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations 2012

TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority Of india) Introduces telecom consumers protection Regulations 2012 across telecom operators in the country.This regulations are introduced to increase quality of services and also this increases simplicity in plans and services offered by the telecom operators.
BSNL is the first telecom operator who implements all these guidelines and all other network providers will follow the guidelines soon..

Following are the benefits the new guidelines bring to consumers:

Simplicity & standardization of tariff vouchers across operators.

Transparency for Value Added Services activated on the account.

Information on premium rate VAS.

Changes which would be ‘seen’ by consumers from now onwards:

New Start Up Kit:

Will contain only the SIM with no rate plan attached (no confusion of tariffs for the customer).

New Vouchers :

Only 3 voucher types will exist (Plan Voucher, Top-up, STV) (easy to differentiate between talktime vouchers against tariff benefits).

Plan Vouchers :

These would offer only the basic plan, with no talktime attached.

Top-Up Vouchers :

These would provide only talktime (in Rupees) with main account validity.

STV Vouchers :

These would provide only rate cutters, and no talktime.

Colour Coding :

The 3 vouchers would be segregated by different colours, for ease of understanding by consumers.

Usage information :

Consumers would be informed of the usage after every call / data session / VAS activation. While this may be already available with several operators, the same has been now made mandatory.

Past Usage information:

Consumers can now avail their usage over the last 180 days by paying a fee of Rs. 50 per request. Details that would be made available are Calls / SMS / VAS / Roaming.

Account related information:

Consumers can also avail information about their accounts – Tariff plan activated / Account Balance / Active VAS details are now available via SMS to the customer.

Premium VAS Service:

Consumers will be informed that the number they are calling is chargeable, and after a ‘beep’ the VAS service would be connected, thereby offering consumer greater awareness of the tariffs.