TRAI seeks stakeholder views on mobile portability transaction charge

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a draft ‘Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability per Port Transaction Charge (PPTC) and Dipping Charge (Amendment) Regulations) 2019.’

PPTC refers to the fee that a telco pays to the mobile number portability (MNP) service provider for processing the MNP request. The regulations suggest that the PPTC should be pegged at Rs 5.74 and should be applicable from September 30, 2019.

Earlier, through the notification of the Telecommunication Tariff (49th Amendment) Order, 2009, TRAI has prescribed a ceiling for the PPTC of Rs 19 for the tariff that could be charged from subscriber by the recipient operator, whereas the dipping charge was kept under moderation. In 2018, the PPTC was reviewed on the basis of the actual financial and non-financial data of both the mobile number portability service providers (MNPSPs) as available for the financial year 2016-17. Additionally, TRAI had issued the Telecommunications Mobile Number Portability Per Port Transaction Charge and Dipping Charge (Amendment) Regulations, 2018 on January 31, 2018 where the per port transaction charge was reduced from Rs 19 to Rs 4 for each successful porting. However, this was cancelled by Delhi high court.

Through the new draft regulations, the TRAI has sought stakeholder views on whether the PPTC should continue to be calculated based on the methodology adopted by TRAI during the review done in the past, whether the total number of MNP requests received by MNPSP or successfully ported numbers be considered while calculating PPTC and should the charges for ‘per port transaction’ and ‘ancillary services’ be determined separately or in terms of consolidated charges. Further, the TRAI has asked stakeholders whether the dipping charge, which is presently under forbearance, needs to be reviewed and whether the porting charge payable by the subscriber to the recipient operator should continue to be prescribed as a ceiling charge as per the current practice.

Stakeholders can submit their comments on the regulations by August 23, 2019.