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Trai to start consultation on hard copy of bill to subscribers

Indiantelevision.com Team

(31 December 2007 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has decided to initiate consultation process towards amending Telecommunication Tariff Order to incorporate an explicit provision for providing bill in hard copy free of cost to all post paid subscribers.

The hard copy of the bill is, however, provided in the relevant rules and relevant licence agreements.

In this regard Trai has requested stakeholders to offer their views on or before 18 January.

However Trai maintains that no post paid subscriber is liable to pay for the bill containing summary details of the payments to be made by the subscriber. This is keeping in view the Indian Telegraph Rules 1951, cellular mobile telecom service, and unified access service license agreements.

"The Authority is convinced that issue of hard copy of the bill will continue to be required in the context of the fact that all telecom access subscribers may not be having access to computer and internet to obtain the bill through e-mail.

Further, a number of important information which are required to be captured in the bill by the service providers would not be possible to be captured in short messaging service (SMS)," said a Trai release.

"Therefore, in the interest of consumers and as per the provisions of the existing rules and agreements entered into by the service provider with the licensor, the service providers give the bill in an understandable form to their consumers.

The Authority had noted that the service providers in other sectors such as power, gas, water utility services are not charging any amount for providing hard copy of the bill," Trai added.