Consumer will be able to view the accounting separation reports of mobile operators on the net within the next 10 days. This means they will be able to scrutinise costs, revenues and profits of mobile operators under the heads of different services they offer.Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Nripendra Mishra met the two industry associations — Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) — to discuss the issue today. A regulation regarding the separation of accounts — which is putting down the costs and revenues of companies under different heads of services like roaming, basic services and so on — was passed by Trai in 2004. Under this, companies had to file their separation of accounts with the telecom regulator. “In a bid to push transparency, Trai will now make these accounts public by publishing them online,” Mishra told The Indian Express.This may have a big impact on the current debate over reduction in roaming charges. A Trai study says that the cost of providing roaming services is below Rs 2, but operators charge Rs 3.99. Similarly other services like ring tones, game shows and SMS come at a higher price.Cellular operators say they should be allowed to charge high prices for these services because they are their only source of revenue, since basic services are provided at very low prices. This is also the operators’ main argument against a reduction in roaming tariffs. If accounts are published, this claim will be open to public scrutiny.
