Telecom regulator sticks to compensation order on call drops

The Indian telecom watchdog's decision to impose a penalty of Re.1 for dropped calls from January 1 next year will stand as of now, an official said on Thursday.

"We have given a clear message to the telecom companies that order on compensation will be effective from January 1, 2016," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman R.S. Sharma said after a meeting here between the watchdog and the service providers.

He asserted that the order on compensation was a valid one. The regulator and the telecom service providers have decided to meet every two weeks to iron out issues regarding call drops.

TRAI will conduct its next test drive to assess call drops in five locations -- Patna, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Surat and Indore. Earlier, test drives were conducted in Delhi and Mumbai.