Telcos must improve service, says Prasad

With the Supreme Court scrapping the call drop compensation regulation, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday that telecom operators must “heed properly” his call to improve service quality.

“When they can expand telecom services to the nook and corner of the country, why can’t they improve the quality?” Prasad asked soon after the court judgment.

Invoking the social commitment card, Prasad said that consumers expect good service from mobile operators, and as a minister, it is his responsibility to keep persuading and monitoring them to ensure they fix gaps in their service.

“As far as the judgment is concerned, Trai regulation is under scrutiny. Therefore, Trai needs to take a call. As far as government obligation is concerned, we shall continue to persuade telecom operators to provide good service,” the minister said when asked for his comment.

However, sources said the judgment is being studied and options are being explored, including filing a review petition.Meanwhile, Kapil Sibal, lawyer for telecom operators, called the regulation “a populist measure”.

“Governments and ministers should not be populist when making decisions on behalf of the government. If you want to please people of India and want to become popular with them, do it in accordance with law,” Sibal said.

Reacting to Sibal’s comment, Prasad said: “Kapil Sibal has been a minister. Either he should become a big lawyer or talk like a leader. If he has said it as a lawyer, then it is unfortunate. If he wants to talk to me as a leader, I am ready with a good reply for him. I too have lots of questions for him. He has been a minister of this (telecom) department.”