Trai moots billing verification body

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed the appointment of an independent consultant for the verification of the billing and call charging done by telecom operators.

The verification mechanism is expected to begin working by the end of this calendar year.

The consultant will advise the regulator on the methodology to be followed for auditing of the billing systems of telecom operators.

The authority will then finalise a methodology, based on which the consultant will undertake the task of auditing of billing systems.

The regulator said that the whole process would incorporate the best international practices, while taking cognisance of the conditions unique to India.

The Trai said that it had been regularly receiving many billing-related complaints, particularly from the mobile-service customers.

It said that in a competitive telecom market, where operators offered various tariff packages, it was not easy for the subscribers to verify whether billing under these tariff plans was being properly implemented.

"The Quality of Service survey, which is being conducted quarterly has also reported that 'the billing parameter is far below the QoS norms and that the operators need to focus on this to improve'," the regulator said.

This prompted the Trai initiate a process for the auditing of the billing systems of telecom operators, which would assure the customers that the service providers adhered to an acceptable level of overall accuracy in the calculation of call charges.