TRAI moots telecom ombudsman to take up consumer complaints

Telecom regulator Trai on Thursday sought public opinion on setting up of an ombudsman in the sector, for speedy resolution of rising subscriber complaints over issues such as wrong billing and poor service quality. Mooting the creation of a telecom ombudsman to sort out customer complaints, Trai, in its latest consultation paper has also sought views on modalities such as legal framework, structure, funding and the type of complaints that should be handled by the sector ombudsman. Besides this, the powers, functions and responsibilities of such a body would be discussed as part of the consultation paper on ‘Complaints/Grievance Redressal in telecom sector’. The consultation paper puts a spotlight on the subscribers “filing large number of complaints with the telecom service providers”, the “unsatisfactory resolution of consumer complaints” by the operators and the “dissatisfaction” with the current redressal mechanism. These, Trai said, are resulting in complaints and grievances being forwarded to Trai and DoT.