The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has invited views from industry stakeholders on a draft amendment called “The standards of quality of service of basic telephone service (wireline) and cellular mobile telephone service (fourth amendment) Regulations, 2014”. TRAI has proposed to review the framework for financial disincentives and penalties on the telecom service providers for repeated failures to meet the quality of service (QoS) parameters. The telecom regulator has sought views on the released draft by February 13, 2015.

According to the draft amendment, TRAI has suggested that unlike the existing framework of a penalty of Rs 50,000 per QoS parameter for the first violation and Rs 100,000 per parameter thereafter, an increment of Rs 50,000 be charged for every subsequent violation. Thus, the service provider should be given a financial disincentive of Rs 50,000 per parameter for the first violation, Rs 100,000 per parameter for the second violation, Rs 150,000 for the third violation and Rs 200,000 for the fourth and subsequent violations of the QoS benchmark.

Further, the regulator has proposed that the penalties imposed on the operators be made identical for both the customer related and network related parameters.

TRAI had introduced financial disincentives for non-compliance with the QoS parameters while issuing the regulations relating to the standards of QoS of wirleline and mobile services in November 2012.