DoT Asks Trai to Suggest Disincentives to Tackle Call Drops

Last week, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad suggested that private operators should minimise call drops and DoT is working on a disincentive architecture on the matter.

"We have asked Trai to analyse the issue and suggest what kind of in-built disincentive mechanism could be used for call drops," Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg said here today.

Explaining the issue and its possible framework, Garg said it could be in the form of giving free minutes to customers in lieu of call drops.

The Secretary said telecom players need to follow the service quality benchmark set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and should be ready to face penalty in case they do not comply with the directions.

DoT, in a meeting with telecom operators last month, had asked the latter to step up.

Mobile phone users have been complaining about frequent call drops, but the players apparently have not heeded their demand.

The operators, on their part, put the blame on "scarcity of spectrum" and hurdles in installing mobile towers in residential areas because of "radiation issues".

Prasad, on several occasions earlier, had said shortage of spectrum is no excuse for call drops.