This is how SC's ruling on call-drop compensation can help telecom consumers

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Now when the Supreme Court has refused to stay Delhi High Court order upholding TRAI's decision making it mandatory for telecos to compensate subscribers for call drop, the telecom companies are bound to get in a tizzy. Let's understand what exactly the latest ruling by the apex court means for consumers of various telecom operators in the country.

Trai's October 16, 2016 order mandated that they must compensate subscribers for each call that gets disconnected due to a fault at their end. The compensation was set at Rs 1, with a cap of Rs 3 per day per subscriber.

In order to escape punishment, the telecos will be more vigilant from now on in ensuring no call drop takes place. This means consumers can expect better telecom network facility from now on.

As per media reports and rough industry estimates, even if 50 percent of the almost 1 billion subscribers in the country demand compensation it will hurt the telecom industry by around Rs 54,000 crore per year. So, telecom companies will be forced to invest more to make their networks more robust, than what we find at present.

However, operators have routinely said that the increasing level of calls drops is due to the lack of airwaves, their inability to build more towers amid issues over radiation. So, the government will have to pitch in at the earliest and ensure that telecos follow the Supreme Court order in true spirit and in interest of consumers.