Now, SMS rates won't spoil your festival mood

NEW DELHI: If you have subscribed to free and discounted SMS schemes, and feel shortchanged when your operator withdraws this scheme on select festival days, help is at hand.

After repeated complaints from customers of operators resorting to such tactics, telecom regulator Trai on Friday stepped in and issued guidelines to ensure transparency in SMS tariffs on festival and other customary days.

As per the new guidelines, the specific dates on which the discounted schemes are not extended must be clearly indicated on the package itself. Besides, the SMS charges applicable on these special days should also explicitly conveyed to the subscribers by the operators.

The regulator has also told operators that the dates corresponding to the black out days shall not be altered after the pack is subscribed by the customer. This implies there shall be shall be no addition to the list of black out days after the pack is subscribed by the customer, Trai clarified.

When contacted, industry associations representing both GSM and CDMA operators said that they would adhere to the Trai directive.