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In a move that will empower a subscriber to know how his service provider has fared on parameters of Quality of Service, the Indian Telecom Regulator is looking at publishing the details of audit reports in publications. The newly-appointed TRAI Chairman JS Sarma, has said ensuring customer satisfaction is going to be one the top priorities during his tenure and for this the consumer must have knowledge of what kind of service he deserves in return of the money he spends.

“We are reviewing the QoS parameters, and in the month of March, a regulation was issued. It in this context we are inviting data from service providers and we intend to discuss with them the feasibility of putting out these details in newspapers, Sarma said.

The Chairman said that the regulatory body has been posting the details provided by the audit agencies on its website, but to privilege a consumer, who does not have access to the Internet it has to find a different way. “We have thought we will organize this information in a more concise form, making it more readable and put it in newspapers,” he said.

Some other issues of customer satisfaction that need attention are tackling the problem of unauthorized calls and redressal of consumer grievance, besides the problem of increased call-drops.

According to a recent report based on sources in TRAI, two mobile service providers had made Rs 900 cr and Rs 800 cr respectively due to an increase in the 'dropped calls' on their network. Interestingly, neither the public nor the authorities could notice this benefit earned by the service provider.

Service providers can get away with such goof-ups because the consumers are unaware of the fact that dropped calls can now be very accurately measured by scientific methods available all over the world and installed by some mobile operators in India.

While the consumers face handicaps in absence of information and fail to interpret the implications of dropped calls, the authorities find themselves powerless in the absence of rules to check such blunders.

With Mobile Number Portability soon coming to India, the regulator's intend is likely to jerk service providers out of their complacency and get more quality conscious.