Delhi High Court Asks Trai to Respond on Plea Challenging Call Drop Ruling

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on a plea challenging its tariff order making it mandatory for cellular operators to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 1.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath issued notice to the Trai on a plea moved by cellular operators, who termed the order as mutually contradictory and destructive.

"Since it has to be implemented from January 1, 2016, we will hear the government and pass the order," the bench said while listing the matter for December 22.

The operators have sought quashing of the Trai's October 16 ruling mandating service providers to pay subscribers Re 1 per call drop experienced on their network, subject to a cap of three a day.

Last week, Trai announced it will again carry out drive tests in various cities, including Delhi and Mumbai, at the end of this month to determine the extent of progress in fixing the call drop problem.

"We will do that at the end of this month," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman R S Sharma said in New Delhi on the sidelines of an event organised by Skoch, a think-tank.

Trai had carried out special independent drive tests in Mumbai and Delhi in June and July and found the network quality below par.

It followed up with more such tests in September, which showed there was not much headway. Other than the metros, the tests had been conducted in Surat, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, and Ahmedabad.

Written with inputs from PTI