Given the rising concerns around the call drop issue in India, TRAI has mandated that, from 1 January 2016, telcos will have to start
compensating subscribers for dropped calls. The amount of compensation is INR1/dropped call, with a cap of 3 calls per day, and the operators need to transfer this amount to the subscribers' account. This implies a maximum compensation of INR90/ month/
subscriber, which is compared to INR180-200 blended ARPUs for IDEA/Bharti.
How will the subscribers be intimated? For prepaid, telcos will need to send an SMS/USSD to the subscriber within four hours of a call drop, informing about the credit. Postpaid subscribers will be intimated in the monthly bills.
While the news is negative, we think its introduction isn?t going to be straight forward ? we do expect a fair bit of pushback from telcos, which could even include going to the courts. There are also likely to be technical hurdles in implementation. Based on our discussions with telcos, it isn?t easy to determine the cause of call drops ? whether it?s due to limitations in the originating network, or in the terminating network; or due to some action by the subscriber, such as removing the battery or stepping into a low coverage area, such as a lift or a basement.
