Consumer Voice

Consumer VOICE brings you an open letter to the TRAI Chairman .

Ajoy  Eric  Lal is Friend /advisor of Consumer VOICE. He helps us articulate consumer angst concerning some vital issues. 

This is first of the series.

We invite one and all to come forth and join the protest and create enough noise to get attention to resolve these issues.  

Ajoy Eric Lal :

   Open letter to

Dr. J. S. Sarma, IAS
Chairman
TRAI - Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg
(Old Minto Road)
New Delhi - 110002
India



Dear Dr. Sarma,

Greetings!

As a consumer and professional who has helped TRAI where he could, I am very disappointed at experiencing the current, abysmal situation in the Indian telecom sector.

No action has been taken at all against offenders, especially the "repeat offenders" on the UCC (Unsolicited Commercial Communication) front. The frequency of UCCs has again increased. Every consumer gets these disturbing spam SMS even at night time.

The TATAs continue to rule the roost (~72% of bulk SMS/ INR 330+ crore) and even Government owned companies such as BSNL continue to flout the few rules that exist (NDNC register).

The proposed, new laws (partly flawed because they are utterly dependant upon a consumer complaint) have not been implemented yet and no date has been fixed either (it would be a joke anyways -- fact is that the term "deadline" has been re-invented by TRAI to mean "no action necessary"!)

It's a 'Free For All' situation, like in the 'Wild West', where the 'Guns and Goondas' ruled.

UCCs continue unabated and the situation is getting much worse. The 4 postponements (Implementation of new rules/ guidelines) by TRAI have not made things any easier but have, instead, made things much worse.

TRAI has lost face and our trust!

I have some examples, as you must already be aware of in detail. The subsequent NDNC registered numbers have registered the following complaints thus far:

1.  99101-00077 = 101 UCCs
2.  99101-62289 = 457 UCCs
3.  99101-67077 = 695 UCCs

That makes it 1,253 complaints from just 3 numbers to date... isn't that enough evidence of your failed policies?!

These tantamount to torture for us consumers and these are and continue to be a major intrusion into our privacy.

Given the above scenarios, who today can take your "Regulatory Authority" seriously? Their is no regulation and neither is there a show [and proof] of authority.

Sir, with due respect to you as an individual, I proclaim that TRAI has failed! The earned grade isn't just an "F", its worse.

Whether on the MOBILE SERVICES front (UCCs, ridiculously low GPRS bandwidth, call drops, never any reimbursements for the customer, incorrect bills, no smooth MNP, numerous fluctuating Pre-Paid issues, etc.)

OR
whether its on the BROADBAND SERVICES front (abysmally low bandwidths, no laws for true quality in place, no importance given to upload speeds, PING, Line Attenuation, SNR margins, Jitter, etc.)

OR
whether its about a SINGLE NATIONAL POLICE NUMBER (distress helpline) (such as a 911 in the U.S.A., 999 in the U.K. or 112 in Europe & China, etc.)

ALL fundamental issues remain unresolved!
ALL are your to-dos!!

Sir, your organization needs to get these sorted out. These issues concern the whole nation -- every individual, every citizen!

Sir, TRAI needs to shift gears and get real, get forceful and win back lost trust immediately... after all, a regulatory authority needs to be strong and not as weak and ineffective as it is today.

Sincerely
Ajoy