Trai Tells Telcos to Undertake Ownership From Subscribers for MNP

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked mobile operators to obtain undertaking of ownership from subscribers seeking to port numbers and disconnect them if the information is found to be incorrect.

"...the Authority hereby directs the holders...having authorisation to provide access service to incorporate in their porting request form an undertaking, to be obtained from the subscriber seeking porting of his mobile number declaring that he is the owner of the said mobile number," Trai said in its directions issued on Thursday.

"In case the undertaking is found to be false, the said mobile number shall be disconnected and furnish the compliance report within twenty one days from the date of issue of this direction," Trai said.

The Authority said disputes regarding the ownership of mobile numbers, after porting from one service provider to another, have come to its notice.

So, in order to strengthen the process of verification of the ownership of mobile number under porting, the Authority invited the comments of stakeholders on obtaining an undertaking of ownership of the mobile number from the subscriber at the time of porting.

"The Authority examined the comments received from the stakeholders and decided to mandate obtaining of an undertaking of ownership of the mobile number from the subscriber while submitting request for porting," it said.

MNP currently allows users to retain their numbers while changing their operators within the same service area. India has 22 telecom circles, or service areas.

Government has asked telecom firms to implement full MNP by May 3, a move that will enable subscribers to retain their numbers when they shift to other states or licensed service areas. It has also warned the operators of action if they miss the May 3 deadline for rolling out the full MNP.