NEW DELHI: Telecom service providers (TSPs) will henceforth have to compensate consumers for up to three dropped calls a day from 1 January, 2016.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the calling consumer will be reimbursed by one rupee a call from midnight to midnight.

A message will have to be sent within four hours to the consumer about the call drop and the amount credited, and this will be done in the bill for the post-paid customers.

The mandatory provisions have been announced in the ninth amendment to the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations 2012 issued today.

TRAI’s move will bring relief to the consumer and also encourage the TSP to improve their quality of service.

TRAI will keep a close watch on the steps being taken by TSPs to reduce dropped calls following this mandatory provision and review the situation after six months.

Call drop represents “the service provider's inability to maintain a call once it has been correctly established, that is, calls dropped or interrupted prior to their normal completion by the user, the cause of the early termination being within the service provider's network.”

TRAI had issued a consultation paper on this issue last month and held an open house with stakeholders on 1 October before issuing the amendment.

The regulator said the action was taken “after careful examination of the comments received from the stakeholders and further analysis” to provide relief to consumers by “mandating the following to every originating service provider providing Mobile Services for each call drop within its network.”