TRAI bars telcos and partners from offering unreported tariffs

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has barred telecom and companies and their channel partners from making any differential tariff offers to attract customers through the mobile number portability route. The watchdog says such offers are “discriminatory” and "contravene" current rules around pricing.

TRAI has thus directed telcos to offer only those tariffs that have been reported to the regulator regardless of who is offering them -- telcos, channel partners, distributors, third-party apps.

The direction comes in response to telecom companies offering discriminatory mobile number portability (MNP)-specific offers to attract more customers.

While the allegations of such "discriminatory MNP specific tariff offers" were denied by each of the operators. In some cases, it was stated by a few telcos that their channel partners may have given some MNP specific benefits to the customers on their own without consent or authorisation from the players themselves.

TRAI noted that channel partners and distributors are "non licensed entities" appointed by telecom operators for the purpose of offering services. It also made it clear that "it remains the responsibility of TSPs to adhere to the various regulatory provisions/guidelines in respect of tariff offerings issued from time to time".