TRAI rules out penalties on operators based on user tests

New Delhi: Telecom operators will not be penalised based on consumer-submitted speed and call tests though the data would be publicly visible, Trai chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said on Wednesday.

Launching the Network Anubhav platform, Lahoti said there would be "no penalty on the basis of user test alone." A penal action, he said, "has to follow certain standards before you conclude that it is a failure." Trai, he added, does not impose penalties but financial disincentives for not meeting specific regulatory requirements.

Asked whether the data would feed into the quality of service (QoS) framework, he said "it is not a part of the QoS framework" right now. However, the latest QoS amendment has a clause allowing Trai to notify a framework for quality of experience, where such information could provide "valuable inputs."


Instead, Trai is relying on transparency. Lahoti said the regulator need not monitor whether operators act on the data, since comparative performance is publicly visible and competition would push them to improve. Where multiple users report problems in an area, he said, it "becomes a good discussion point" in Trai's periodic meetings with operators.

Network Anubhav is a geospatial dashboard that plots test results from Trai's MySpeed and MyCall apps, along with independent drive-test results, on a map. Consumers can compare operators and technologies at a given location, while operators get a secure login with deeper data. It also offers a web interface for DND. Data is updated daily, not in real time.