Ombudsman for telecom industry

NEW DELHI: The telecom industry will finally have an ombudsman on the lines of other consumer-driven sectors such as power, banking and insurance. So far, this sector had been functioning without an ombudsman, despite telecom regulator Trai repeatedly recommending its creation for over two years, as the government has not agreed to this proposal.

But, even as the Department of Telecom (DoT) has refused to give an official nod for the creation of an Ombudsman, telecom companies have now decided to go-ahead and establish it by themselves.

An ombudsman is an independent body to which consumers can take their complaints. It will have the powers to mediate settlements between consumers and their service providers and can act as a one-stop solution to their woes by ensuring that they do not have to approach other consumer forums and courts for redressal mechanisms.

Explains Cellular Operators Association of India’s director general TV Ramachandran: “The industry feels that this is long overdue and don’t want to delay this anymore.

We are in advanced stages of implementing this scheme of setting up a Telecom Sector Ombudsman (TSO). Mr Ramachandran also added that a formal announcement by all operators on the setting up a TSO would be made “very soon”, while adding that any settlement or award by this body would be binding on all service providers.

COAI has also informed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) of this initiative. “The TSO is expected to be implemented at an early date and will address the grievances of subscribers in an independent, simple, objective transparent, expeditious and cost effective manner.

We believe that the industry TSO scheme will enjoy better confidence of the consumers for fairness and independence of the redressal of grievances,” the association said in its communication to Trai.

The operators’ move also vindicates Trai’s stance. More so, considering that the DoT had told the regulator that “an ombudsman was not feasible”. Sources said that the DoT in its reply to Trai had brushed aside this issue stating that ‘The recommendation has been considered and it has not been agreed to’.

“We welcome this move by telecom companies to set up an office of the Ombudsman to address consumer-related issues. This is independent of our recommendations to the government on this issue,” Trai chairman Nripendra Mishra told ET.
“At present, consumers who feel short-changed by their operators can either approach Trai or consumer courts with their complaints.

Trai, in addition to being terribly under-staffed to handle consumer related problems, is also overburdened with policy issues. On the other hand, approaching consumer courts is an even longer process,” explained an executive associated with the industry.

A bulk of the complaints in this sector is about over billing, non-refund of security deposit and disconnection or non-activation of the phone even after the payment has been made.

joji.philip@timesgroup.com