TRAI moots common billing practice

HYDERABAD: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today recommended the need to standardize billing and metering systems to set industry benchmarks.

In an open house session on “Billing and Number Portability Issues” held here, the regulatory body discussed various billing related complaints.

Pradip Baijal, chairman, TRAI said, “We are recommending the setting up of an internal body to assess the issue. To standardize and bring transparency in the procedures, the authority has also developed a code of practice for billing accuracy in India.”

While the issue of lack of information and clarity about the tariff scheme is being addressed separately, the authority felt that a regulatory initiative is needed to ensure an acceptable level of overall accuracy in the calculation of call charges.

TRAI had appointed an international consultant to audit the billing systems of mobile operators. It has provided the outcome of the audit in the consultation papers in May this year.

Earlier during the discussion, issues such as call dropping and call termination were also discussed. The telecom regulator is also considering whether short duration calls between three to five seconds should be charged or not.