REGD. NO. D. L.-33004/99

The Gazette of India

EXTRAORDINARY

PART III—Section 4

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

No. 17]

NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2001/MAGHA 5,1922

249 GI/2001

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TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 25th January, 2001

No. 301-9/200O-TRAI (Econ.).— In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under sub-

section (2) of section 11 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 to notify, by an

Order in the Official Gazette, tariffs at which Telecommunication Services within India and outside

India shall be provided, and in view of the decision of the Honorable High Court of Delhi in CW-

6483/99, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hereby makes the following Order.

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY

[PARI III -Sic. 4]

The Telecommunication Tariff (Twelfth Amendment) Order 2001

(2 of 2001)

SECTION I

a) Short title, extent and commencement

i. This Order shall be called "Telecommunication Tariff (Twelfth Amendment) Order

2001."

ii. This Order shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from P¹ August 1999

iii. This Order contains Tables I through VIII in Section II specifying the amount of

refunds that shall be made by cellular service providers to subscribers of cellular

mobile services as a result of reduction in the license fee payable by the service

providers following their acceptance of migration from the fixed license fee regime to

revenue sharing.

iv. This Order contains at Annex A, an Explanatory Memorandum that explains the

reasons for this amendment to the Telecommunication Tariff Order 1999.

SECTION II

Refunds

Tables I through VIII provide for the amounts of refunds that shall be made to

different categories of subscribers in metros and circles following the change in the license

fee regime with effect from August 01, 1999.

Metro

Delhi

Mumbal

Mumbai

Chennai

Calcutta

TaWe I: Standard Tariff Paduige- METROS

Refund Amounts from August 1999 to January 2000 (Fn Rs.)

Operators

Airtel

Essar

BPL

HMTL

RPG

Skycell

Spice Cell

bMTL

Refund of Rental Per Subscriber

Aug-99

178.00

178 00

178.00

Sep-99

178.00

17800

178 00

178.00

17800

178.00

Oct-99

178.00

178 00

178.00

Nov-99

53.00

53 00

53.00

Dec-99

53 00

53.O0|

53 00

53.00

53OOj

53.00

PLUS

Jan-00

53.00

53 00

53.00j

53.00

Refund Per Minute of use by the subscriber

Aug-99

1 35

1.35

1 35

1.35

1 35

1.35

Sep-99

1.35

1 35

Oct-99

135

1 35

1.35

Nov-99

1.35

135

1.35

1 35

1.35

Dec-99

1.35

1 35

Jan-00

1 35

1.35

1 35

1.35

135

1 35

Category

A¹ Circle

B' Circle

C Circle

Circle

Maharashtra

Maliarashim

Gujarat

Gujarat

A.P

Kamataki

fr.N

T.N

Kerala

ierala

Punjab

Haryana

L\P (W)

U.P (E)

U.P.{E)

itajasthan

ivip.

HP.

Bihar

Orissa

Assam

NE.

Table II : Standard Tariff F«ckage - CIRCLES

Refund Amounts from August 1999 to January 2000 (In Rs.)

Operators

BPL

Qirla

AT&T

Fascel

Bula

Tata

Bharti

Btwtl

Spice

BPL

Aircel

Escotcl

BPL

Spice

Escotcl

Escote!

ADL

Hctacom

RPG

Reliance

Bluuii

Reliance

Reliance

Reliance

Refund of Rental Per Subscriber

Aug-99

178 00

178.00

178 00

178.00

178 00

17S.0O

178 00

178.TO

178 00

178 00

178.00

178 00

17S0O

178.00

PS 00

178 00

178 00

178 00

178.00

178 <)0

178.00

178 00

178.00

178 DO

Sep-99

178 00

17SW

178 00

178 00j

178.00

178 00

m.oo

178 00

178.00

178 00

178 00

178 00

178-00

178 00

178 00

178.00

178 00

1T8 00

Oct-99

17K00

178 00

178.00

178.00

178 00

J 78.00

m.ool

moo

178 00

17-8 00

178.00

178.00

178.00

178.00

178 00

17S00

178 00

178.00

i7flee

178 00

178.00

178 00

178.00

ITSflO

Nov-99

78 00

78 00,

78 00

78001

78.00

78 00

78.00

78 00

78.001

78.00

78 00

7800

78 00

78.00

78 00

78:00

78 00

78.00

78 00

78.fl©

Dec-99

78.00

78 00

78W

78 00

7i.OO

78.00

78 00

78,00

78.00

78.00

78 00

78,00

78 00

78. OQ

78 <#

78.00

78 00

78 XW

7800

PLUS

Jait-00

78 00

78.00

78 XX)

78 00

78.00

78 00

78.00

78 00

7SW

78.00

78 00

78.00

78 00

78.00

78 00

78.00

78 00

78.36

78 00

78.00

78.00

78.ee

Refund Per Minute of use by

Aug-99

1.35

135

1.35

135

1.15

1.35

1.35

135

135

1.35

135

1.35

1.35

1.35

1.35

'135

1.35

1.35

i.35

Sep-99

1.35

1.35

135

135

1.35

1.15

1.35

135

1.35

1 35

135

135

1.35

1.35

1.35

1.35

1.35

1.35

135

1.35

135

135

Oct-99

1.35

1.35

135

135

1.35

U i

135

1.35

1.35

135

135

1.35

1.35

1J5

1.35

1.35

135

1.35

135

1.35.

1.35

1.J5

Nov-99

1.35

1,35

1.35

~~T35

' 1.35

135

1.35

135

135

1.35

1.35

1.35

135

1.35

135

135

1.35

135

135

1.35

1.35

1.35

the subscriber

Dec-99

1.35

135

1.35

1.35

1.35

135

1.35

135

1.35

1.35

135

135

1.35

135

1.35

135

1.35

1 35

135

135

135

135

1.35

135

Jan-00

1 35

135

1.35

135

1.35

135

1.35

1.35

1.15

1.35

135

1.35

135

1.35

1.35

1.35

1 35

1.35

1.35

1.35

135

1.35

135

1.35

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY

[PAIU III -Sic. 41

Table III: Standard Tariff Package- METROS (In Rs.)

Monthly Refund Amounts from February 2000 onwards

Metro

Delhi

Mumbai

Chennai

Calcutta

Operators

Airtel

Essar

BPL

HMTL

RPG

Skycell

Spice Ceil

UMTL

February 1000 onwards

Refund amount in Rs.

(Cannot be less than Zero)

Rs 53 00 - Rs 0.65 *(MOU)

Rs 53 00 - Rs. 0.65 *(MOU)

its 53.00 -Rs. 0.65 *(MOU)

Rs 53 00 - Rs 0.65 *(MOU)

Rs 53 OX) - Rs 0.65 *(MOU)

Rs 53.00 - Rs. 0 65 *(MOU)

Rs 53 00 - Rs 0.65 *(MOU)

Rs53«O-Rs 0.65*{MOU)

Note MOV is minutes of use by the subs nber m a specific month

Table IV: Standard Tariff Package - CIRCLES (In Rs.)

Monthly Refund Amounts from February 2000 onwards

Category

A' Circle

B' Circle

C Circle

Circle

Maharashtra

Gujarat

A.P

A.P.

Karnataka

T.N

Kerala

Punjab

Haryana

UP. (W)

U.P (E)

UP (E)

Rajasthan

M.P

HP.

Bihar

Onssa

Assam

N.E

Operators

BPL

Birla AT&T

Fascel

Biria

Tata

Bharti

Spice

BPL

Aircel

Escotel

BPL

Spice

Escotel

ADL

Koshika

Hexacom

RPG

Reliance

Bharti

Hehance

Reliance

February 2000 onwards

Refund amount hi Rs.

(Cannot be less than Zero)

Rs 78.00 - Rs. t) 15 *(MOU)

Rs78OO-Rs 0 15*(MOU)

Rs 78.00 - Rs. 0.15 *(MOU)

Rs 78.00 - Rs 0.15 *<MOU)

Rs78OO-Rs 0 15*(MOU)

"Rs78.00-"Rs 0.15 •(MOTJ)

Rs 78.00 - Rs. 0.15 *(MOU)

Rs78 00-Rs 0.15*(MOU)

Rs78O0-Rs G.15+{MQU)

Rs 78 00 - Rs 0 15 *(MOU)

Rs 78.00-Rs 0 15*(MOU)

Rs 78.00 -Rs. 0 15*(MOU)

Rs 78.00-Rs 0.15*(MOU)

Rs 7800 -Rs <U5 *<MOU)

Rs78 00-Rs 0 15+(MOU)

Rs 78 00 - Rs 0 15 *(MOU)

Rs78 00-Rs.O 15*(MOU)

Rs78 00~Rs 0 15*(MOU)

Rs 78 00 - Rs. 0 15 *<MOU)

Rs78 00 -Rs 0 15*(MOU)

Rs78 00-Rs 0.15*(MOU)

Rs78 00-Rs.0 15*(MOU)

Rs78 00-Rs 0.15 •(MOU)

RsTSDG-Rs 0.15*IMOU)

Rs78 00-Rs 0.15*(MOU)

Rs78 00-Rs 0 15 *(MOU)

Rs7S00-Rs 0 15*<MOU)

Note MOII is minutes of use by the subscriber in a specific month

Table V: Refund Amount per Minute of Actual Use (In Rs.)

Alternative Tariff Package (ATP) Subscribers

Metro Service Areas

Metro

Delhi

Mumbai

Chennai

Chcniiai

Calcutta

Operators

Airtcl

Essar

BPL

HMTL

RPG

Skycell

Spice Cell

UMTL

Aug-99

1.40

0.07

Sep-99

1 42

0 76

2.25

Oct-9»

1 95

3.05

Nov-99

1.53

1.91

Dec-99

2 39

2.01

Jan-00

2 29

366

Feb-00

3.37

2.12

Mar-00

0 6 «

188

Note: Where cells hm>e been left blank indicates that no refunds are required to be made

Metro

Delhi

Mumbai

Chennai

Calcutta

Table VI: Refund Amount j>er Minute of Actual Use (In Rs.)

Pre Paid Subscribers

Metro Service Areas

Operators

Airtel

Essar

BPL

HMTL

RPG

Skycell

Spice cell

UMTL

Aug-99

3.31

3.61

3 34

0.67

Sep-99

1 16

o.oe

187

0.08

Oct-99

0 80

0 33

181

Nov-99

0.32

0.16

1.61

Dec-99

0 74

0.78

Jan-00

1.69

0.67

Feb-00

0 14

1.95

1.18

Mar-O0

0.89

1.18

Note: Where cells have been left blank indicates that no refunds are required to be made

Category

V Circle

B' Circle

Circle

Gujarat

A.P

•iamataka

Karnataka

T.N.

•Ceralfl

Kerala

'Punjab

C Clrck

-larvaua

UP (W)

S J P ©

UP. (E)

ivi.p.

Bihar

Orissa

Assam

Table VII: Refund Amount per Minute of Actual Uie (In Ru.)

Alternative Tariff Package (ATP) Subscribers

Circle Service Areas

Operators

BPL

Birta AT&T

Faoccl

Birla

Tata

Bharti

Bharu

5fMCC

BfL

Aircel

Escotcl

bPL

Spice

JE.'icoiel

Escotcl

MX.

K.oihika

Hexacom

|RPQ

Reliance

Bharti

Sertance

Reliance

Reliance

Reliance

AUB-99

fl.45

0 65

051

Sep-99

fl.41

071

0.30

Oct-W

1.11

Nov-99

0 59

019

142

Dec-99

0.24

0 35

0 20

1.11

Jan-00

«.13

0 10

tetHM)

0 02

Mar-oo

Note. Where cells have been hfi A/w«t it}dtca(ei> lhat ita refunds are reqmraii to be mack

3'f-\- : /~

. /

—

j '

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA

EXTRAORDINARY

[PART 111—SKC, 4]

Table VIII: Refund Amount per Minute of Actual Use (In Rs.)

Pre-paid Subscribers

Circle Service Areas

Category

\' Circle

B' Circle

C Circle

Circle

vlaharashtra

Vtaharashlra

Gujarat

A.P.

A.P

varnalaka

•Carnatuka

T.N

T.N.

Kerala

Punjab

Haryana

W.<W)

b.P. (E)

U P fE)

[Rajasthan

M.P

tlP.

HP.

Bihar

Onssa

Assam

N.E.

Operators

BPL

Birla

AT&T

Fascel

Birla

Tata

Bharti

Spice

BPL

Aircel

Fscotel

BPL

Spice

Escotel

ADL

Kosluka

Hc.xacom

RPG

Reliance

Bharti

Reliance

Aug-99

0.21

153

Sep-99

1.09

0 22

Oct-W

1 82

Nov-99

081

Dec-99

0 37

Jan-00

1 24

Feb-0«

0 87

Mnr-00

0.66

0 53

Note: Where cells have been left blank indicates thai no refunds are required to be made

By Order,

HARSHA VARDHANA SINGH, Advisor (Economic)

[ADVT. m/IV/Exty./142/2000]

ANNNEX-A

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

This Order notifies the refunds that must be made by the cellular mobile service

providers to their subscribers, consequent to the change in license fee regime from 1^st

August 1999

A background to this exercise is provided by recalling the Order of the

Authority with respect to Calling Party Pays regime, the decision of the Delhi High Court

(CW 6483/99) in respect of this Order (in CW 6483/99), and a partial refund provided by the

Cellular Mobile Service Providers. The Order specifies amounts of refunds that are required

to be made to the cellular mobile subscribers in metros and circles by the different service

providers

Calling Party Pays ("CPP"). High Court Judgement, and Partial Refund By Cellular

Service Providers

The Authority had specified a Calling Party Pays ("CPP") regime for Cellular Mobile, to

be implemented from I^s1 November 1999 This regime aimed at reducing the tariffs in view

of the license fee reduction and at introducing the CPP regime. The regime was challenged

in the Honourable High Court of Delhi, which ruled in its Order dated 17^th January, 2000

that the Authority did not have the jurisdiction to alter the interconnection revenue share

and, therefore, the tariff regime as envisaged could not be implemented

Tn addition, the

High Court observed that:

a) License fee paid by cellular operators has decreased since 1^st August, 1999;

b) The license fee reduction has led to a benefit to cellular operators;

c) It is the duty and function of TRAI to ensure that the benefit which the cellular operators

have received is passed on to the consumers; and that

2 8

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY

[PART 111—SEC. 41

d) The Court was sure.that the TRAI would keep this in mind and issue necessary

directions in this behalf.

During the Court proceedings, Cellular Operators agreed to reduce tariffs for subscribers

on the standard tariff package. On this matter, the Court Order of 21^A January, 2000 states

as follows:

"Mr. Subramanium states that in deference to the observations made by this Court,

when it dictated its Judgement on 17^th January 2000, the Cellular Operators'

Association has on its own voluntarily decided that all Cellular Operators will reduce

the monthly rental to Rs. 475/- per month for Metro Service Area and Rs. 500/- per

month for Circle Service Area with effect from 1^st November 1999. He states that

they will also reduce the "Air Time Charges" to Rs. 4/- per minute for Metro Service

Area and Rs 4 50 per minute for Circle Service Area with pulse rate of 30 seconds

duration with effect from 1* February 2000.

Mr Subramanium further states that the credit for reduction in monthly rentals will

be given in the monthly bills of the consumers during the three months starting from

February 2000 onwards "

Calculation of Refunds as a result of the change in license fee

In compliance with the High Court's observations, TRAI had undertaken the task of

studying the impact of a change in the license fee regime from a fixed license fee to a

revenue share license fee regime

The refunds which cellular mobile operators have to

consequently provide to the customers have been worked out

To work out these refunds, only the impact of licence fee has been studied The

methodology used for determining the revised tariffs after a change in the license fee is the

same as that used initially to determine the cellular mobile tariffs

Under that methodology, separate cost base for rental and call charge was

determined, and the license fee was added to these cost bases to obtain cost based tariffs for

cellular services. Different methods of allocating the license fee costs to these bases were

considered to ascertained reasonable levels for rentals and airtime charge. After such a

consideration, cost based tariffs for cellular services were derived on the basis of an equal

distribution of license fee costs towards rental and airtime respectively

Hence, out of the

monthly license fee payable of Rs 500 00 per subscriber per month for metro subscribers,

Rs.250.00 was included in the cost based monthly rental charge and Rs. 250.00 was

included in the cost based airtime charge The rental so arrived at was Rs 600 00 per month

while the airtime was determined at Rs 6 00 per minute. These tariffs were notified in the

Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO) 1999 and were applied as standard tariff for circles

also.

From the above tariffs, if we take away the license fee component, the cost-base for

rental becomes Rs 350.00 per month (i e, Rs. 600 00 - Rs 250.00). The cost-base for

airtime charge by applying the same logic becomes Rs. 3 92 per minute. To this cost base,

which includes all costs other than license, the license fee has to be added to arrive at the

final rental and airtime charge. The formula to be used thus becomes

Cost Base

J-L

Where Cost Base = All costs other than license fee; and

L= license fee i.e. 17% of revenue

The resultant amount works out to be Rs. 422.00 per month and the revised airtime

charge becomes Rs. 4.65 per minute (i e Rs. 4.72 rounded down to Rs, 4.65 in view of the

pulse rate of 20 seconds specified in the standard tariff package)

These revised tariffs (Rs.

422 00 per month rental and Rs. 4 65 per minute air time charge) provide a basis for

estimating the refunds from cellular service providers.

< •', ?6i -l/-? c-Gf — £T

In working out the refunds, the Authority has taken into account also the fact that the

Cellular Mobile operators had themselves provided certain refunds for the period November,

1999 onwards for standard tariff subscribers. The refunds have therefore been calculated for

the period from August 1999 (i e. since the change in the license fee regime) taking account

the following tariff reductions already made by the operators themselves.

a) November 1999 to January 2000 Service providers gave a refund to the subscribers of

standard tariff package at the rate of Rs 125 00 per month for metros and Rs. 100.00 per

month for circles,

b) February 2000 onwards

In addition to the above mentioned refund, a lower airtime

charge was levied for standard tariff subscribers

In metros it was Rs 4 00 per minute

and in circles Rs 4 50 per minute In both cases, pulse duration of 30 seconds was used.

In view of the above, refunds due to the subscribers have been calculated separately

for the period upto January 2000 and from February 2000 onwards.

Period from August 1999 to January 2000

Standard Tariff Subscribers

The refunds due to standard tariff package subscribers in metros and circles from

August 1999 until October 1999 are specified as a combination of two amounts One is a

fixed amount per subscriber i e Rs 178 00 (Rs 600 00 - Rs 422 00) per subscriber per

month on account of difference in rental, while the other amount is linked to actual airtime

usage by the customer during the month For each minute of airtime used, the subscriber is

eligible for a refund of Rs 1 35 (i.e Rs 6 00 - Rs 4.65) These refund amounts are given in

Table I for metros and Table 11 for circles

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY

[PAKI 111—Sa. 4)

The corresponding estimate of refund from November 1999 onwards takes into

account the fact that from November 1999 cellular operators have made refunds of

Rs 125.00 per month for metros and Rs. 100 00 per month for circles to the standard tariff

package subscribers

Thus for the period November 1999 to January 2000 the refund to

standard tariff subscribers in metros is estimated to be Rs. 53 00 (Rs 178 00 - Rs 125 00)

per subscriber for rental plus Rs 135 per minute of actual airtime usage For circles it is

Rs. 78 00 (Rs. 178 00 - Rs 100 00) per subscriber on account of rental plus Rs 1 35 per

minute of actual airtime usage. These refund amounts are given in Table 1 for metros and

Table II for circles

Alternative Tariff Subscribers

In alternative tariff packages, the service providers have built in different

combinations of monthly rentals and airtime charges

In calculating refunds due to the

subscribers on alternative tariff packages, the Authority has been constrained by the fact that

the variety of tariff packages and the relatively large number of changes in these tariffs

render it difficult to make detailed and accurate calculations of average tariffs during the

period under consideration. For the sake of implementing the refund scheme, therefore, the

Authority has had to work out the average level, based only on the available data

To determine the amount of refund for alternative tariff packages which would be in

line with the refunds determined for standard tariff packages, the following procedure has been

followed

First, Rs 422.00 is deducted from the aggregate of amount of rentals realised under

alternative tariff packages from the total number of subscribers to these packages The residual

amount which then represents airtime charges is added to the airtime revenue charged

arrive at per minute charge, this figure is divided by the total minutes of airtime used

The

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY

[PART III—SLC. 4]

resultant figure is the effective per minute airtime charged. From this per minute airtime charge

Rs. 4 65 per minute which is the charge arrived at after taking the revised license fee into

question is deducted to find out whether any refund on account of airtime charges is due to the

users of these packages.

In cases where average airtime tariff charged by the service provider based on the

method described above is lower than the cost based tariff estimated following the reduction in

license fee liability (i e. Rs 4.65 per minute), no refund is proposed because it follows that

benefits of the license fee reduction have already been passed on to subscribers It would thus

be seen that in Tabl"" V and VII, in case of some service providers, subscribers to Alternative

Tariff Package do not get any refund.

On the other hand, if the estimated average airtime tariff is higher than the cost based

airtime tariff (i e. Rs 4.65 per minute), the excess is determined to be the refund amount per

minute of use Thus, for alternative tariff packages the refund amount is computed in rupees per

minute For example, if the refund amount determined by the Authority is Rs. 1.66 per minute

for a given month, a subscriber who has used 100 minutes of airtime in that month shall be

eligible to receive Rs 166.00 from the service provider for that month. The refund amounts for

alternative tariff subscribers are shown in Table V for metros and Table VII for circles

Prepaid Tariff Package Subscribers

The same methodology as for alternative tariff packages is used for pre-paid tariff

subscribers. These refund amounts are shown in Table VI for metros .and Table VU1 for circles.

p. Period from February 200Q onwards

Standard Tariff Subscribers

In addition to the monthly rental reduction of Rs. 125.00 provided to standard tariff

subscribers from November 1999 onwards, metro service providers reduced airtime charge from

Rs. 6.00 to Rs. 4.00 per minute to these subscribers from February 2000 onwards. Thus, the

'new standard tariff package' provided from February 2000 comprises a monthly rental of Rs.

475 00 and airtime charge of Rs. 4.00 per minute in metros.

For the period February 2000 onwards, the standard tariff package with reduced

license fee is compared to the package provided by the service providers The change in pulse

duration from 20 seconds to 30 seconds makes the comparison difficult. Depending upon the

average duration of calls, the average price may differ in the case of the two pulse rates. For

want of any other alternative, the calculations have assumed that the change in pulse rates does

not affect the average price substantially.

In metros, calculations show that for standard tariff subscribers, the revised standard

tariff offered by service providers has a higher rental by Rs 53.00 (i.e. Rs. 475.00 - Rs. 422.00)

compared to the benchmark standard tariff package estimated with reduced license fee The

charge however is lower by Rs. 0 65 (i.e. Rs. 4.65 - Rs. 4.00) per minute

Accordingly, the

refund amount shall be Rs 53.00 per subscriber less Rs. 0.65 multiplied by actual minutes of

airtime usage. For example, a subscriber who used 50 minutes of airtime, the refund amount

shall be Rs. 53.00 - Rs. 0.65 • 50 = Rs. 10.50, This formula for refunds shall be applicable to

metro standard tariff subscribers from February 2000 (for the formula please see Table III) until

a new standard tariff package for metros is specified.

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY

[PAKI 111—SIC. 4]

The situation in Circles is different from in metros. The reductions in monthly rental

Rs. 500.00 and in airtime charge to Rs. 4,50 per minute (from February 2000 onwards) are

lower than that offered by metro service providers. Based on these figures the standard tariff

subscribers in circles have been charged Rs 78.00 per month more than the benchmark rental

(Rs 500.00 - Rs. 422 00), while being provided a benefit of Rs 0 15 per minute (Rs. 4 65 - Rs

4.50) compared to the benchmark airtime charge

The refund amounts for circle standard tariff

package subscribers, therefore, shall have to be Rs. 78.00 per subscriber per month less Rs 0 15

multiplied by the number of minutes of actual airtime usage in the month

This refund formula

(please see Table IV) shall be applicable to circle standard tariff subscribers from February 2000

onwards until a new standard tariff package for circles is specified.

Alternative Tariff Package and Pre-paid Tariff Package Subscribers

For alternative tariff package subscribers, including pre paid subscribers, average

monthly airtime tariff is estimated using the same methodology as mentioned above for these

tariff packages

Data verification for this period has been done in the same manner as for the

period prior to February 2000. Calculations show that the average alternative tariff charged for

the months of February and March 2000 for most service providers is lower than the benchmark

tariff estimated above for both metro and circle service providers. The same is true for pre-paid

tariff subscribers as well. Accordingly, no refund accrues and, therefore, is not proposed for

alternative tariff subscribers from February 2000 in such cases. In these cases as it stands the

benefits of license fee reduction have already been passed on to subscribers

Where refund is

due for the months of February and March 2000 it has been shown in the relevant tables. The

Authority is seeking additional information on revenue and usage from service providers and as

it monitors the situation carefully it would review/modify the tariffs should that become

necessary at any stage

Methodology for Providing Refunds

RefUnds that are notified in this Order shall be made by each service provider to its

subscribers after due verification of the records available with the service provider and/or the

consumer. It is proposed that for all subscribers who are still with the service provider, refunds

could take place by reduction of bills over a period of four months beginning from J^a April

2001

In all other cases, the refund should take place in a manner mutually agreed upon

between the subscriber and service provider.

Extensive publicity on refunds should be made by all service providers, though not

necessarily by publishing names of individual subscribers. Every service provider is required to

submit to the TRAI by the 28^th of February 2001 its detailed plan of providing to the subscribers

the refund notified herein and at the end of the prescribed four month period (April to July). A

report on the actual amounts refunded under each of the tariff plans offered by it to its

customers.

In certain cases, especially for the pre-paid platform, subscribers who have left the

network will need to be traced by the service provider in order to effect the refund.

The

following steps shall be taken by the service provider to trace such subscribers.

a) By reaching him at the address given at the time of registration;

b) General advertisement in the leading newspapers;

c) By prominently displaying the plan for refund at all its sales and services

outlets and at other centers where it has interface with the public.

THE GAZETTE OF INDIA

EXTRAORDINARY

[PARI III- Sic 4]

At the end of the stipulated period of four months beginning 1^st April 2001, the

service providers shall also provide to TRAI a list of untraced subscribers with the refund

amounts due where these can be worked out on the basis of data available A list of pre-paid

subscribers where adequate data was not available to work out the individual refund amounts

should also be provided separately

In light of the data received, TRAI would consider the

option for appropriate utilization of the amount which should have been refunded but has

remained with the Service providers because the subscriber could not be traced

Further change in tariffs

The Authority recognizes that some component(s) of the present calculation could

undergo changes in the future necessitating minor adjustments in the calculations made and the

refunds notified In that event, should the adjustment called for be material and practicable,

TRAI shall notify their implementation An important test of practicability of implementing the

required adjustment would be that the cost of implementation is commensurate with the amount

being adjusted The Authority is keeping the tariff situation under constant review

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