Call Drop

CALL DROP :
BANE FOR A CONSUMER - BOON FOR THE SERVICE PROVIDER

TRAI seeks comments from stakeholders on Compensation to the Consumers in the Event of Dropped Calls


By Debkumar Bhadra  | Musings of an Islander  | South Andaman

The issue of frequent call drops has put telecom subscribers at the receiving end for long. In the absence of suitable safeguard, telecom subscribers are penalized for no fault on its part whereas Telecom Service Provider (TSP) who is apparently at fault ends up richer with every instance of a dropped call. It is therefore no surprise that TSP’s did precious little to resolve the issue in the past and continues to look the other way in the present. However this is not going to last any further since continued inaction on the part of TSP’s had ultimately caught the attention of regulatory authorities.

Recently while reviewing the status of mobile connectivity in the country, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi observed that the issue of call drop is directly affecting the common man and directed that steps be taken urgently to resolve the problem. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) therefore has come up with a consultation paper titled “Compensation to the Consumers in the Event of Dropped Calls” and sought comments from stakeholders.

In its consultation paper TRAI has very rightly pointed out that consumer on a per-minute-pulse has to pay for at least a minute of call even if someone talks for a second; before the call gets dropped before completion of the conversation. Not only this, the consumer re-attempts the call, in which case the TSP again levies charges as per applicable tariff. Further, since the last call got interrupted midway, the consumer invariably spends some time either apologizing or berating about the interruption and then restarts the conversation picking up the threads from the last attempt; this result in longer call duration thereby greater call revenue for the TSP.

Similarly, in case of Internet Data Services frequent break in data communication is affecting customers the same way as it does in the case of call drops. Therefore TRAI need to expand the scope of consultation on dropped calls to cover Internet Data Services as well. For instance while surfing the web, checking emails or uploading/downloading files, if internet connection gets disrupted midway, one is left with no choice but to click refresh. It appears simple, but what we seldom realise is that such request on the browser triggers a series of processes requiring huge amount of data transfer between the system and the server. The browser, while asking for a fresh copy of the resource, appends the header with every request that tells server who you are, what kind of device you are using, the type and version of the browser, installed plugins, cookies that match the domain and a lot more. Every bit of this information (which counts in MBs of data) is sent with such request. The consumer thus ends up paying for the intended as well as un-intended broken download attempts whereas the TSP once again stands to gain immensely from the situation; charging hapless customers for all those packets of data lost in previous and subsequent attempts at downloading and or refreshing the web page. It is for this reason TSP’s have been reluctant to address the issue on its own.

As of now there is no scope for a customer to escape being charged for a dropped call, however if telecom services remains disrupted for more than three days, customers could seek remedy prescribed under Quality of Service (QoS) Parameters and Benchmarks. As per QoS Parameters, Internet Service Provider (ISP/TSP) is supposed to compensate the subscriber by giving rebate in rentals (see image for details) for disruption of telecom services suo moto. But as the adage says crying baby alone gets milk, such remedy (read rebate in rentals) is given only to those customers who ask for it in writing. Therefore till TRAI comes up with suitable mechanism for addressing the issue of call drops, it is incumbent upon us to acquaint ourselves of the provisions of QoS Parameters and Benchmarks (see image) and make good use of it.

I take this opportunity to urge fellow telecom subscribers to send their comments on the consultation paper on Call Drops to Smt Vinod Kotwal, Advisor (F&EA), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Mahanagar door Sanchar Bhavan, Jawahar Lall Nehru Marg, New Delhi – 110002, Phones : 011-23230752, Fax: +91-11- 23236650. Comments could also be sent as email to : advfea1@trai.gov.in or advisorfea1@trai.gov.in note the deadline for submission of comments on the consultation paper is September 21, 2015. Those looking for a template may access the comment submitted by me following this link.

To end my summation, I would quote Pragyan Verma, Et al who in their research paper “Dropping of call due to Congestion in Mobile Network” described Service as “Something that may be bought and sold, but cannot be dropped on your foot.” I hope the instant initiative by TRAI would bring TSP’s to term with the definition of service and extend customers and for that matter TSP’s what is rightfully due to them.

 The post was carried in the Port Blair edition of Echo of India dated Sept 10, 2015

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