New Delhi: With the Supreme Court annulling the call drop compensation regulation, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the telecom operators ‘need to do more’ to improve quality.
“Consumers expect the mobile operators to provide good services, and as a minister I will keep a check that they are getting it. When they can expand telecom services to the nook and corner of the country, why can't they improve the quality?" the minister told reporters outside the Parliament on Wednesday.
The government after the SC order is now looking for options to address the issue. Prasad said that he will study the apex court's judgment and also look at the TRAI Act.
Also read: Call drop penalty waived, telecom firms want 'real' issues fixed
The government believes, he said, that companies need to invest more for better results.
He also said that the ultimate call on the future direction needs to be taken by TRAI as tariffs and quality of services fall under its domain.
The minister also said that the government has taken steps to help companies offer better quality of services. These steps include permission to trade and share spectrum.
At the upcoming spectrum auctions, the government will offer a record 2,000 MHz of mobile airwaves, Prasad further mentioned.
The apex court had set aside the call-drop penalty provision put in place by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which mandated mobile providers to compensate consumers Re 1 for every dropped call subject to a maximum of Rs 3 a day.
