Rural Development Through Information Technology : a Case Study of Dhar District of Madhya Pradesh

Empowering India’s 500 million plus mobile users, the country’s telecom regulator has decided to set up an online customer redressal
mechanism, providing a platform for dissatisfied consumers to express their complaints against their service providers.

Put simply, any customer can log on to this web-based system, that will be maintained by Trai, to register complaints, violations or any other grievance against their mobile operator. This independent platform will work on a real-time basis, implying that the operator in question will immediately get the complaint, a top Trai official told ET.

This official also added that this system would enable Trai to monitor if customer grievances were being addressed. “We can then see as to what per cent of customer complaints are addressed,” the Trai official explained.

When pointed out that only a fourth of the country’s mobile subscribers had access to the internet, the Trai official said that the regulator was trying to expand the scope of the platform to include SMS-based complaints. “We are looking at different technologies to explore if SMS or voice calls can also be made part of the online customer redressal platform,” the Trai official added.

Trai has decided to go in for this online model, as it is not empowered to handle individual consumer complaints against service providers. The regulator will begin the process next month, and after consultations with all stakeholders, it plans to have the platform working from the beginning of next fiscal (April 1, 2010).

Trai is also of the view that despite all operators having directed a three-tier redressal structure, which includes call centres, area-wise nodal officers and appallette authorities, most grievances went unaddressed. Currently, the only other option that a consumer has is to take the operator to court.

Meanwhile, the telecoms regulator will also meet the two telecom industry bodies next week — Cellular Operators Association of India...