No. 301-20/2020-F&EA.—-In exercise of the powers conferred by section 36, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations further to amend the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 (2 of 2012), namely:
S. K. GUPTA, Secy.
[ADVT.-III/4/Exty./261/2020-21]
Note.1. – The principal regulations were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 6th January, 2012 vide notification number No. 308-5/2011- QOS dated the 6th January, 2012.
Note.2. – The principal regulations were amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 11th January, 2012.
Note.3. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 21st February, 2012.
Note.4. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 7th March, 2012.
Note. 5. -The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 22nd October, 2012.
Note.6. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 27th November, 2012.
Note.7. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.308-5/2011-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 21st February, 2013.
Note.8. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.308-3/2012-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 3rd December, 2013.
Note.9. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.308-1/2015-QOS and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 7th August, 2015.
Note.10. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.301-23/2015-F&EA and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 16th October, 2015.
Note.11. – The principal regulations were further amended vide Notification No.301-7(2)/2015-F&EA and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4 dated the 19th August, 2016.
Note.12 – The Explanatory Memorandum explains the objects and reasons of the Telecom Consumers Protection (Eleventh Amendment) Regulations, 2020 (07 of 2020).
Explanatory Memorandum
Introduction and Background
1. The International Mobile Roaming (IMR) is a service that allows customer of a mobile operator in one country to obtain service (voice, SMS or data) from an operator in another country using the same handset and mobile number, facilitated by a common technology and a wholesale inter- operator contract1 . Though, there are a few other options available to the consumers to use mobile services while travelling abroad viz., usage of public Wi-Fi systems or Wi-Fi facilities provided at the place of stay, or buying a local pay-as-you-go SIM card in the visiting country or opting for international SIM card from providers of such services. The fact that IMR Service allows the consumer to use mobile services using the same handset and mobile number make it unique and naturally preferred option in comparison to other alternatives.
2. The uniqueness of IMR Service implies a de facto monopoly of the ‘Home Operator’ and raise concerns of potential abuse of monopoly power in the form of imposition of abusive tariffs including both higher rates and adverse terms and conditions of the usage on the consumer or a general lack of transparency in the communication of tariffs leading to a situation of bill shocks.
3. The concerns relating to abusive tariffs and bill shocks are universal and have received a lot of attention, not only from the various national regulatory agencies but also by organizations such as ITU, OECD, and GSMA. Recognizing the possibility of abusive tariffs and bill shocks, the International Mobile Roaming Strategic Guidelines published by ITU in 20172 (“ITU IMR Guidelines”) lists (i) price regulation; and (ii) consumer protection amongst the key IMR regulatory issues.
4. It was observed that the national regulatory agencies have resorted to the price regulation to tackle the issue of abusive tariffs and prescribing measures to enhance availability of information to consumers to prevent the instances of bill shock. The measures to enhance availability of information to consumers include mandating the service providers to provide timely and comprehensive information relating to tariffs, usage etc.
5. The extant regulatory framework in India does not provide for price regulation of IMR Service. The Authority has expanded the scope of forbearance regime over the years and given the service providers the freedom to design the tariffs suited to the prevailing market conditions in relation to most of the telecommunication products including IMR Service.
6. As regards protection of consumer interests while availing IMR Service, the Authority has mandated vide sub-clause (4) of clause 10A of Telecom Consumers Protection (Eighth Amendment) Regulations, 20153 , that,
“Every service provider shall, through SMS or USSD, provide to all consumers of the Cellular Mobile Telephone Service, having international roaming facility on their mobile connection, an alert, immediately after the consumer roams outside the territory of India, advising the consumer to deactivate the data services in his mobile phone if he does not intend to use data services while roaming outside the country.”
7. It was observed that the existing regulatory framework is not sufficient to address the issues relating to the provision of IMR Service. Accordingly, it was decided to review the entire process of provision of IMR Service to identify issues requiring regulatory intervention and amend the regulatory framework.
8. Accordingly, a consultation paper was issued on 26th May 2020 on “Regulation of International Mobile Roaming Services”.4 Pursuant to receipt of comments, counter comments and discussions on various issues related to IMR in the online Open House Discussion, the Authority considered it appropriate to amend the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2012 (2 of 2012)5 with an objective of strengthening the consumer protection measures as regards IMR Service. The next section discusses the changes made in regulatory framework and rationale for the same.
Changes in Regulatory Framework
(a) Activation of IMR Service
9. The prerequisite for availing the IMR Service is to ensure that the mobile phone is set up to be used abroad, i.e., international roaming is activated on the subscriber’s account. Currently, there is no standard approach to the “activation” of international roaming. The service providers may follow any of the following approaches:
- a. Requiring the subscribers to request for activation of international roaming;
- b. Pre-activating the international roaming; or
- c. Automatically activating the international roaming when a customer lands abroad.
10.
It was observed that in India, some service providers are providing pre-activated international roaming for prepaid subscribers and requiring post-paid subscribers to activate international roaming. Some other service providers require, both post-paid and prepaid subscribers to activate international roaming. Further, it has been observed that these policies also vary across the licensed service areas (LSAs) and destination countries. Considering that (i) activation of international roaming is a prerequisite for availing IMR Service abroad; (ii) different policies being followed by the service providers; and (iii) lack of knowledge in this regard may result in severe adverse consequences to the consumer, it was decided to consult the stakeholders on the need to either standardize the approach or strengthen the communication process etc. ……………………….
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Source : http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2020/222233.pdf
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