New service quality parameters for telcos in a month's time: TRAI chairman

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is likely to announce new parameters for quality of service for telecom operators in a month's time to tackle call dropping and other problems being faced by customers.

"The work is in progress," said Trai Chariman Rahul Khullar while inaugurating the 2nd National Summit on ‘IT & Mobile Banking: Digital Transformation of Indian Banking; Enabling Financial Inclusion,’ organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

He also said that digital transformation of Indian banking will remain a pipe dream unless measures suggested in a recent report by the TRAI on broadband were taken to completely overhaul the structure.

The Trai chief also said that financial inclusion can be deeply achieved by harnessing new technology which does not cater exclusively to those who are already banked or those living in urban areas.

“Do not delude yourself into believing that merely because technology exists it will be suddenly harnessed for everybody’s good, the way it has worked so far at least, it has been harnessed for the good of a very few as its only those having devices and are electronically savvy who are in good shape,” said Khullar.

He further said that it is the sheer cost of a brick and mortar institution, lack of customers together with poor deposits and low withdrawals which has prevented banks from going out to rural areas and reaching out to everybody.

Khullar also said that banks need to develop new software for the unbanked group. “Banks need to develop software which is simple to use on a standard phone which can enable rudimentary transactions for the person at the end of the telephone and the banks need to get that done by developing such a software for this larger group to build trust in the system and grow.”

The TRAI chairman stressed upon the need to take a firm decision to do something about those who are financially excluded.