Telecom-Govt received 729 call drop complaints this year

The government has received 729 complaints about call drops in the first half of this year, Parliament was informed Thursday. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal And Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) received 622 complaints about call drops, while telecom regulator Trai received 107 complaints till June 25, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

"The number of incidents of call drops/improper network coverage reported through CPGRAMS to DoT is 4,534 in the year 2017, 1,678 in the year 2018 and 622 in the year 2019 (up to 25th June 2019). Trai has also received 488 complaints in 2017, 1,109 complaints in 2018 and 107 complaints in 2019 (up to 25th June 2019) on call drops," Prasad said. The minister said that as per the performance monitoring reports for cellular mobile telephone services for the quarter ended March 2019, the service providers have complied with the benchmark for both the parameters for assessing call drop, except for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) in West Bengal service area.

"BSNL has been issued a show-cause notice to explain their position including reasons for non-compliance," Prasad said.