Telecom Operators to Compensate Subscribers for Long Outages Under New Trai Rules

Telecom operators in India will now have to compensate subscribers facing service outages lasting more than 24 hours at the district level, as per new regulations by Trai. Penalties for failing quality benchmarks have also increased, and rebates for outages must be provided timely to both postpaid and prepaid users.

In a significant development, telecom operators are mandated to compensate subscribers enduring service outages exceeding 24 hours at the district level according to new regulations issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday.

The regulator has substantially increased penalties for failing quality benchmarks, with fines now ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh depending on the scale of violations. These new rules supersede previous regulations, aiming to ensure better service standards for wireline, wireless, and broadband networks.

Under the updated guidelines, network outages lasting more than 24 hours will compel telecom operators to provide proportional rent rebates to postpaid users and extend validity for prepaid subscribers. Even fixed-line services aren't exempt, and broadband providers must meet a 98% activation rate within a week. These rules will take effect in six months.

(With inputs from agencies.)