Supreme Court Drops The Hammer On TRAI's Call Drop Regulations

A. Supreme Court quashes TRAI Regulations on call drops

The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has quashed the Telecom Consumers Protection (Ninth Amendment) Regulations dated October 16, 2015 ("Regulations") issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ("TRAI"). The Regulations, which prescribed a financial disincentive (Rs. 1 for each call drop limited to a maximum of three calls per day) to be paid by the Telecom Service Providers ("TSPs") to their customers w.e.f. January 1, 2016 had been challenged by the TSPs before the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi on the grounds of being arbitrary, unreasonable and without basis. The High Court however, upheld the validity of the Regulations on February 29, 2016 and further stated that since the same had not been stayed by the court during the proceedings, TRAI was at liberty to take appropriate steps towards its compliance.