  Reacting to the complaints related to overcharging to tariff registered against it with the regulator TRAI, Airtel has said that number of complaints is negligible compared to its vast customer base.
"Every customer complaint is important to us and we do address each of these at a customer and systemic level. However, it needs to be understood that the number of complaints referred here is mere 745 of our active customer base of 195 million. There is, in fact declining trend in number of complaints over the period of time vis-a-vis our growth." an Airtel spokesperson told TelecomTiger.
Last Friday informing the the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology said that 745 complaints related to overcharging of tariff against Airtel were registered with TRAI during 2012-13.
Airtel is followed by Vodafone, Reliance and Tata followed Airtel with 505, 329 and 345 complaints respectively. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has received 2419 complaints relating to billing and tariff including complaints relating to overcharging of tariff.
He said that the individual consumer complaints received in TRAI are forwarded to the concerned service provider for redressal.
TRAI also received 122 complaints against BSNL and 36 against MTNL. Idea account for 194 complaints while others for 143.
“As per the existing tariff framework, tariff for telecommunication access services is under forbearance except national roaming and rural fixed line services.” He said.
The Telecom Service Providers have the flexibility to determine various charging components and the pulse rate applicable depending on the market conditions and other commercial considerations.
As per this flexibility, telecom service providers have specified different duration as pulse rate for charging in terms of seconds and minutes.
TRAI Act, 1997 does not envisage handling of individual consumer complaints by TRAI.
“However, TRAI has been receiving complaints from consumers relating to unsatisfactory resolution of their complaints”, Deora said.
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