Telecom Inc fails to satisfy customers

Big telecom companies—Reliance, Airtel, Idea or BPL —have been found wanting by the telecom regulator in terms of giving satisfact...

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Big telecom companies—Reliance, Airtel, Idea or BPL —have been found wanting by the telecom regulator in terms of giving satisfaction to cellular customers for reliability, network performance and availability. None of the players in the fast expanding cellular market in India, which boasts of over one crore subscribers today, have met the prescribed service quality standards in terms of network performance, reliability and availability, a survey of Trai said.

The story is the same in case of basic services, dominated by state-owned BSNL, where operators were found short of meeting the standards of network, reliability and availability and overall the service quality levels were rated ‘poor’. Perhaps as exception, BSNL met the prescribed norms in Andhra Pradesh.

However, the survey pointed out that level of customers’ satisfaction was much higher in case of cellular services compared to the basic ones. Virtually every cellular service provider crossed or came close to the 90 per cent mark in terms of ‘customers scores on satisfaction with service provision’. In sharp contrast, except for HFCL customers in Punjab and Shyam Telelink in Rajasthan, none of the basic service providers in any circle could score 90 per cent satisfaction mark for service provision.

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With telecom service quality in the country languishing much below stipulated norms, Trai warned of strict action against companies failing to deliver quality services. The action against erring companies could involve a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh or compensation for customers, in case the players wilfully defaulted in performance repeatedly.

‘‘This continued shortfall in quality of services cannot go on. Till now we were making the shortcomings public and trying to persuade operators to improve services quality, but now there will have to be other action, as this tantamounts to violation of Trai’s regulation on quality of service (QOS),’’ Trai chairman, M.S. Verma, told newspersons here on Wednesday.