Parliament Question: Call Drop, Network Quality and Tariff Hike

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 684 ANSWERED ON 23RD JULY, 2025 CALL DROP, NETWORK QUALITY AND TARIFF HIKE †684. SHRI RAJKUMAR ROAT: Will the Minister of COMMUNICATION be pleased to state: (a) the details of percentage of tariff increased by major private telecom companies in the country during the last ten years, telecom company, year-wise; (b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government regarding call drop, network quality and tariff hike in telecom services in the country; (c) whether it is a fact that major telecom companies are arbitrarily increasing the tariff due to the monopoly of private companies in the telecom sector and if so, the details thereof; and (d) whether the Government is formulating any specific policy to maintain competition in the telecom sector so as to check monopoly in the telecom sector and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a) As per the licensing framework, there are no distinctions between major and minor private telecom companies. However, the number of total access players have varied from time to time during the last ten years. As of now, there are three major private telecom companies providing mobile services. Each telecom company offers multiple plans of various requirements of consumers.. However, in terms of similar plans, while a significant fall was noticed between 2016 to 2019, subsequent increase was observed among the three major mobile telecom service providers broadly as mentioned in Annexure ‘A’ (b) TRAI has taken the following initiative to further improve the Quality of Service including call drop: (i) Review of QoS benchmark for various Quality of Service parameters: After following detailed consultation process, TRAI has notified” The Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wireline and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulation. 2024” on 02.08.2024, prescribing QoS parameters and their benchmarks for both access and broadband services provided on wireline as well as wireless media. The regulations have come into force with effect from 1st October 2024. (ii) Recommendations on “Rating of Buildings or Areas for Digital Connectivity”: To address the network overage issues in large indoor areas, TRAI has submitted the recommendations on “Rating of Buildings or Aras for Digital Connectivity” to Department 1of Telecommunications (DoT) on 20.02.2023. The recommendations suggest a collaborative approach among various stakeholders viz. Building Developers, Service Providers, Infrastructure Providers, DCI Professionals and most importantly the users to come together to plan and build Digital Connectivity Infrastructure (DCI) along with entire Building Plan and Development activities similar to other building services such as water, electricity, fire and safety services etc. (iii) Regulations on Rating of properties for Digital Connectivity: TRAI in its recommendations dated 20.02.2023 has also suggested a framework for rating of buildings to nudge the property managers. Accordingly, TRAI has notified “The Rating of Properties for Digital Connectivity Regulations, 2024’ on 25th October, 2024 prescribing a framework for r5ating of buildings of properties for digital connectivity to promote creation of good digital connectivity through a collaborative and self-sustainable approach. (iv) Monitoring the Performance: TRAI regularly monitors the performance of service providers against the benchmark for various quality of Service parameters laid down by TRAI by way of Quality-of-Service Regulations issued from time to time. For monitoring the performance of service providers, TRAI collects License Service Area (LSA) wise Performance Monitoring Report (PMR) from service providers on a regular basis. Wherever the Quality-of-Service benchmarks are not met, the explanation of the concerned service provider is called for and after considering the response of the service provider financial disincentives are imposed on the service provider for non-complied QOS parameters. (c) & (d) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has the mandate to regulate the pricing and tariff structures of telecom services under Section 11(2) of the TRAI Act 1997, in accordance with this mandate, TRAI initiated tariff regulation for the telecom sector through notification of the Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO) 1999. With respect to regulation of telecom tariffs the Authority has moved over the years from fixation of Tariff to a policy of forbearance with regulatory oversight. Therefore, tariff for telecommunication service is under forbearance except for services as National Roaming, Rural Fixed Line Services, Mobile Number Portability charges, Leased circuits and USSD. Subject to compliance with extant regulatory services provisions, service providers are free to design and offer tariffs based on their understanding of the market situation. Service providers have the flexibility to decide various tariff components like the rates for different types of calls, SMS, data offers etc. So, for the last two decades or so the tariffs for telecom services have been under forbearance which means that telecom companies are at liberty to design their tariffs based on the market forces of demand and supply. This policy of forbearance has led to India having one of the lowest tariffs in the world based on recent ITU data. The measured index value of India is 1.89 which is much lower than other nations like USA (49), Russia (6.55) and even China (8.84). It has resulted in a massive increase of telecom subscribers from 14.5 million in 1997 to more than a billion as on date, one of the cheapest telecom rates in the world. Furthermore, the tele density i.e., the number of telephone connections per 100 persons in a geographical area is now more than 80% and the internet penetration has also increased tremendously with more than 950 million internet uses as of present. 2Annexure ‘A’ Percentage of tariff increase by major, private TSPs Telecom Service Increase in Tariff in similar plans of the Providers (TSPs) TSP (%) 2019 2021 2024 M/s. Reliance Jio Infocom 26% - 20%- 17%- Ltd 39% 23% 25% M/s. Bharti Airtel Ltd 16%- 20%- 11%- 50% 25% 21% M/s. Vodafone Idea 25%- 20%- 11%- Limited 51% 23% 21% ***** 3