Bangalore: Mobile Number Portability (MNP) which was scheduled to be effective from March, has been delayed further as the Department of Telecom (DoT) is non-receptive to suggestions to enforce countrywide portability. In September 2013, mobile operators were advised by TRAI to roll out MNP within six month, throughout the country.

Rajeev Agarwal, Secretary of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said, that there was no response from the telecom department and that telcos would require six months if DoT approved the suggestions.

The portability service was launched in 2010 where the mobile users could retain their numbers when they switched operators but only within a telecom circle or service area; however, with full portability, the user will be able to retain their number even when they move between different telecom circles and service areas. The country consists of 22 circles which are divided into four groups – metro, A, B and C circles. The metro will encompass of densely populated areas like Delhi and Mumbai, while the other three groups will cover areas with varying population.

TRAI, over the past few months, collected a fine totaling 22 million rupees ($ 355,698) from over 60 real-estate and spa businesses and disconnected their telecom services as they were conducting unauthorized marketing calls. It also fined an amount of 28 million rupees ($ 452,706) on operators who did not meet the set quality standards. The number of complaints regarding sales/marketing calls dropped to 11,200 a month from a whopping 44,000 a month in 2012, thanks to TRAI.

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