TRAI Gives Telcos September 30 Deadline for Revised MNP Norms

Telecom regulator TRAI has extended, by over three months to September 30, the timeline for implementation of revised Mobile Number Portability (MNP) norms, providing relief to operators who had cited various reasons including significant changes in their network and IT elements for more time.

The move came after telecom service providers and other players involved in the port out process sought extension of the original June 13 deadline, citing "various reasons including significant changes in their network and IT elements", the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

In December 2018, the TRAI had called for speeding up the mobile number portability period by cutting down the processing time for porting request to half. As per its new rules, the portability must happen within a period of two days. Only in case of MNP from one circle to another was the four-day period for the process allowed.

The move to revamp the current mechanism for the MNP comes on the heels of the regulator slashing the MNP charges by almost 79 percent to a maximum of Rs. 4 last year. The prescribed ceiling for MNP charge was Rs. 19 previously.

At present, switching to another network with the same mobile number takes seven days but globally, the process gets completed in a matter of hours, TRAI officials had earlier.

The MNP allows users to port from one mobile network to another without needing to change their contact number.

"These stakeholders have accordingly requested to extend the timeline for implementation of Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2018," TRAI said.