New Delhi : Telecom regulator Trai is planning to initiate a review of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) mechanism to make the process of network port-out faster and simpler for subscribers.
It will issue, by the month-end, a consultation paper that will look at reducing the time taken to switch from one network to another under MNP, and will also seek to simplify the entire process, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman RS Sharma.
“We will be bringing a consultation paper on expediting MNP. Today, the process takes time. The consultation paper will be aimed at reducing that time and changing the processes. We are currently working on it and will issue it by the month-end,” Sharma said.
The move to revamp the current mechanism for MNP comes on the heels of the regulator recently slashing the MNP charges by almost 79 per cent to a maximum of Rs 4. The prescribed ceiling for MNP charge was Rs 19, previously.
Trai will seek industry’s views on how the entire MNP process can be made faster, simpler and more foolproof for subscribers. At present, switching to another network with the same mobile number takes seven days but globally the process gets completed in a matter of hours, a Trai official said, adding that the regulator aims to make the procedure more efficient, and also reduce the code errors that consumer may face, at times.