The regulator, TRAI issued guidelines on Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Per Port Transaction as well as Dipping charges thereby setting the stage for implementation of MNP in India from December 31 this year.

TRAI fixed the Per Port Transaction Charge at Rs 19 i.e. the service provider to which the subscriber wants to migrate will have to pay the MNP system provider, Rs.19.

The Dipping Charge i.e. the charge paid by Access Provider or ILD provider to MNP provider has been left for the parties to mutually decide.  The porting charge i.e. charge paid by the subscriber will not exceed Rs 19.

The decision follows a consultation paper on ‘Per Port Transaction Charge, Dipping Charge and Porting Charge’ issued by TRAI on 22nd July 2009. Earlier in September 23 this year the regulator had issued MNP regulations stating the procedure for porting, the rights and obligations of various entities involved and time limits for carrying out the Mobile Number Portability.

The charges fixed by TRAI are very low when compared to earlier expectations of the amount to be in the range of Rs 250.