India’s telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has expanded consumer access to complaint services and added financial disincentives for providers that mishandle cases.
TRAI issued the amendment Nov. 2. It requires complaint centres to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Providers must offer human assistance for at least 16 hours daily, and technology-based support must have human oversight. Customers can also submit complaints, appeals and service requests through providers’ mobile apps.
The time to appeal a disposed complaint falls to 15 days from 30. TRAI’s summary says a provider’s Appellate Authority must communicate its final decision within 15 days after receiving an appeal. Customers first complain to their service provider and can then seek review from that provider’s appellate body. TRAI says it does not decide individual customer complaints.
When a complaint or appeal is resolved or closed, providers must invite customers to give an online rating on a five-point scale. They must publish the results each quarter and send quarterly reports on complaints, appeals and survey results to their CEO or board.
The quarterly ceiling for complaint-handling disincentives is ₹20 lakh per Licensed Service Area (LSA). Within that limit, the regulation sets ₹1,000 for each complaint improperly dismissed or disposed of and ₹5,000 for each improperly handled appeal. Late performance reports face a separate schedule: up to ₹5,000 per report per day for the first 15 days, then ₹20,000 per day, capped at ₹10 lakh per incident in each LSA.
The amendment covers internet service providers with more than 10,000 subscribers at the end of the preceding fiscal year. It removes the earlier alternative eligibility test based on annual turnover above ₹5 crore.
TRAI’s May draft counted 73,081 direct complaints received in fiscal 2025-26, compared with 44,733 in fiscal 2023-24 and 55,978 in fiscal 2024-25. The draft cited changing customer channels, including apps, web portals, chatbots and email, as a reason to update a framework first notified in 2012 and amended in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
In comments on the draft, the Cellular Operators Association of India said round-the-clock service would add costs, including night-shift staffing and supervision.
