Telecom Commission to come with graded penalty scheme for telcos soon

KOLKATA: The Telecom Commission will soon announce a graded-penalty scheme to help mobile phone companies from being fined a flat Rs 50 crore for committing minor offences but the body de ferred a decision to ring in full mobile number portability, an official said.

"The TC is working on differential penalties linked to the severity of violation unlike the current system of a blanket penalty of Rs 50 crore," said a top telecom department official who was present in the meeting of the commission.

"One would need to check whether to run this past the Election Commission before reviewing the policy." The penalties could range from as low as Rs 1 lakh for minor violations and progressively rise to Rs 1 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 20 crore, and finally Rs 50 crore depending on whether the offence is moderate, major or severe.

The new rules will also allow a telco to appeal against the penalty to the DoT.

The Telecom Commission also directed the state-run BSNL to invite fresh bids from potential suppliers of GSM equipment for establishing mobile connectivity in India's naxalite hotbeds. The current cost estimates are too high, according to the commission. BSNL's demand for a cost escalation of 28.5% for rolling out mobile networks in the naxal areas is not justified, according to the body.

The Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF), which will fund this, had rejected BSNL's cost escalation proposal and had sought commission's intervention since the Rs 3,915-crore revised estimate proposed by BSNL is well above the Rs 3,046-crore cost cleared by the Cabinet last June.

The TC is still examining the pros and cons of allowing full mobile number portability and may take a final call in its next meeting. "The issue of MNP operators going national is being studied in detail," said the official. Last September, Trai had said that mobile operators implement full portability within six months but the telecom department is yet to endorse its proposals.

MNP allows a subscriber to retain his mobile telephone number when he moves from one mobile operator to another, but only within a circle. Full portability will enable users to retain their cellphone numbers even after shifting to another circle. It remains to be seen whether the panel endorses the defence ministry's suggestion to exclude Jammu & Kashmir from the proposed plan for full portability to combat terrorism.