MTNL receives Rs 16.7 lakh in TRAI penalties over service lapses

MUMBAI: MTNL’s service scorecard has come with a price tag, with the telecom operator receiving two financial disincentives from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) totalling Rs 16.7 lakh. The state-owned telecom company disclosed the penalties in a regulatory filing dated September 16, 2026, following a TRAI order issued on September 14 and received by MTNL on September 15. The penalties relate to contraventions of the Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wireline and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024.

The larger penalty of Rs 11 lakh relates to violations of Regulations 9 and 10 concerning MTNL’s Access Service (Wireline) for the quarter ending September 2025.

A second financial disincentive of Rs 5.7 lakh was imposed for contravention of Regulation 13 in connection with MTNL’s Access Service (Wireline) during September 2025.

Together, the two penalties take the financial hit to Rs 16.7 lakh. However, MTNL said there is no material impact on its financial, operational or other activities from either penalty.

The disclosure was made under Regulations 30 and 51 of the SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015, which require listed entities to report specified regulatory actions and penalties.

The penalties also underline the continuing scrutiny of telecom service quality, with the violations in this case linked specifically to MTNL’s wireline access services and standards applicable during 2025.

For MTNL, the amount may be relatively contained on the balance sheet, but the message from the regulator is harder to miss: when service quality falls short of prescribed standards, the bill can follow — even if the financial sting is limited.