Government clears the way for telecom ombudsman

Posted on | June 9, 2006 |

Telecom subscribers will soon get an ombudsman to settle their grievances and disputes. Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran has said that the government has given in principle approval to set up an ombudsman.

Recently, TRAI chairman Nirpendra Misra had suggested that telecom operators set up an ombudsman.

The TRAI Act empowers the regulator to make recommendations on laying down the standards of quality of service to be provided by the service providers and conduct the periodical surveys of telecom services, so as to protect the interest of the consumers.

However, it is not empowered to look into the grievances of individual customers. It cannot take any action against an operator that does not meet quality of service (QOS) standards.

Currently, there is no specialised body where consumers can go with their complaints. They can only approach courts and it is a long wait for justice.

This makes operators powerful as they disconnect phones and threaten to withdraw the numbers given to users.

In another development, TRAI has directed all service providers to furnish details of credit limit set for postpaid customers in the monthly statement/bill on a regular basis.

The authority took the step after it received numerous complaints of the hardships and inconvenience caused to the subscribers on account of disconnection of service or barring of calls when the usage exceeded the credit limit decided by the operators.

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