A Parliamentary panel has expressed concern over delay in setting up of an ombudsman to deal with consumer grievances in the telecom sector despite the regulator TRAI recommending it twice. Asserting that existing grievance redressal mechanism for telecom is ‘grossly inadequate’, the Standing Committee on IT has said that ‘urgent steps’ should be taken to amend the Consumer Protection Act in order to include telecom consumer complaints and financial claims of customers under its ambit.
“The committee are however concerned to note that even though TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) had recommended for an ombudsman before the year 2004, the same has not been put in place till date,” the report by the Parliamentary panel said.
The committee said that it has now been informed by the Telecom Department that TRAI has again, in 2017, recommended setting of the ombudsman as an independent mechanism offering technology based resolution for compliant redressal, and that the department is considering the matter.