Bare Acts Live

Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999

Published vide Notification Gazette of India, Extra, Part 3, Section 4, dated 1.4.1999

Last Updated 7th December, 2022 [act1715]

Section I

(ii) The Order shall cover tariff for all Telecommunication Services througout the territory of India as also those originating in India and terminating outside India.

(iii) The order shall come into force on the date of its notification in the Official Gazette.

Section II

(a) "Act" means the Telecom Regulatory Authority Act of India, 1997;

(b) "Authority" means the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India;

[(ba) "average variable cost" means total variable cost divided by total output during the relevant period;]

(c) "Basic" Telecommunication Services" mean services derived from Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN);

(d) "Ceiling(s)" mean(s) the upper limits(s) for tariff for telecommunication services as specified by the Authority from time to time;

[(da) "Combo Voucher" means a paper voucher or electronic voucher which on activation alters one or more items, for a period not exceeding ninety days, in the tariff plan of the consumer and adds monetary value to the prepaid account of the subscriber.]

(e) "Domestic Long-distance Telecommunication Service" means the telecommunication services required to connect one local area of a public telecommunication network to another within the territorial limits of India so as to allow for transmission of voice and non-voice signals across different geographical areas;

(f) "Floor" means the lower limit of a tariff for a telecommunication service as specified by the Authority from time to time below which such tariffs may not be offered;

(g) "Forbearance" denotes that the Authority has not, for the time being, notified any tariff for a particular telecommunication service and the service provider is free to fix any tariff for such service;

(h) "International Long Distance Telecommunication Service" means telecommunication services required to connect a local area of a public telecommunication network within India to a local area of a public telecommunication network in another country so as to allow for the transmission of voice and non-voice signals;

(i) "International Subscriber Dialing" means direct interconnection between an end user in India with another end user in another country by means of direct dialing through public networks;

(j) "Leased Circuits" mean telecommunication facilities leased to subscribers or service providers to provide for technology transparent transmission capacity between network termination points which the user can control as part of the leased circuit provision and which may also include systems allowing flexible use of leased circuit bandwidth;

(k) "Non-discrimination" means that service providers shall not, in the matter of application of tariffs, discriminate between subscribers of the same class and such classification of subscribers shall not be arbitrary;

[(ka) "non-predation" means not indulging in predatory pricing by a service provider having significant market power;

(kb) "predatory pricing" means the provision of a Distinct Telecommunication Service in the relevant market at a price which is below the average variable cost, with a view to reduce competition or eliminate the competitors in the relevant market, as determined by the Authority;]

[[(kc)] "Premium Rate Service" or "PRS" means service for which charges are levied at rates higher than the rates applicable to the consumer as per his tariff plan.]

[(l) "Reporting Requirement" means the obligation of a service provider to report to the Authority any new tariff for telecommunication services under this Order or any change therein, within seven working days from the date of its implementation for information and record of the Authority, after conducting a self-check to ensure that the tariff, including promotional tariff, is consistent with the regulatory principles which, inter-alia, include transparency, non-discrimination and non-predation.]

[(la) "relevant market" means the market which may be determined by the Authority with reference to the relevant product market for Distinct Telecommunication Service and the relevant geographical market;

(lc) "relevant geographic market" means a market comprising the respective license service area for which the licensor grants license to the telecom service providers to provide Distinct Telecommunication Services.]

[(lf) "significant market power (SMP)" means a service provider holding a share of at least thirty per cent. of total activity in a relevant market;

[[(lg)] "Special Roaming Tariff Plan" or "SRTP" means a tariff plan in which, on payment of fixed charge, if any, the incoming voice call while on national roaming is free.]

(m) "Special Services" mean those support and other ancillary services like phonogram, directory enquiry, manual trunk service, assistance, emergency, services such as police, fire and ambulance provided by service providers through special interfaces located at the edge of the PSTN;

[(ma) "Special Tariff Voucher" means a paper or electronic voucher, which on activation alters one or more items of applicable tariff in the consumer tariff plan for a period not exceeding ninety days in terms of limited or unlimited usage of voice calls, SMS or data but does not provide any monetary value.]

(n) "Standard package" means a package of tariffs which inter alia comprises rental, call charges, free calls, deposits and other charges as may be determined by the Authority for specific telecommunication services from.time to time;

[(nn) "Reference Tariff Package of the Service Provider" means a package of tariffs as determined by each cellular service provider which shall specify the Monthly Rental and Airtime Charge per minute in the same format as provided earlier in the standard tariff specified under the Telecommunication Tariff Order.]

(o) "Subscriber" means an end user of telecommunication services;

(p) "Subscriber Trunk Dialing" means direct interconnection between two end users within India by means of direct dialing through public networks;

(q) "Supplementary Services" means services which are provided specific to a subscriber's directory number and controlled either by the subscriber or by the service provider such as automatic alarm call service, call waiting, call diversion on busy or no reply, and any other such service;

(r) "Tariff(s)" mean(s) rates and related conditions at which telecommunication services within India and outside India may be provided including rates and related conditions at which meassages shall be transmitted to any country outside India, deposits, installation fees, rentals, free calls, usage charges and any other related fees or service charge;

[(ra) "Total cost" means the total cost with regard to telecom services, is the cost of provision of service including items such as employee cost, administrative cost, sales and marketing cost, maintenance cost, network operating cost, government charges, depreciation and amortization, finance charges and other cost attributable to the service during the referred period;

(rc) "Transparency" means the disclosure of all relevant information of every tariff plan by the service provider which enables the consumer to make an informed choice. The disclosed information, inter alia, is to be accessible, accurate, comparable, complete, distinct and identifiable, explicit and non-misleading, simple and unambiguous.]

[[(rd)] "USSD" or "Unstructured Supplementary Service Data" means a real-time or instant session-based messaging service;

[[(re)] "USSD-based mobile banking and payment services" means delivery of banking and payment services through mobile phones over USSD;

[(rf)] "USSD session for USSD-based mobile banking and payment services" means a session over USSD between the mobile subscriber and the bank or its agent or any entity authorized by the Reserve Bank of India for delivery of banking and payment services through mobile phones over USSD];]

(s) Words and expressions used in this Order and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.

Section III

Tariffs For Telecommunication Services

(ii) Where a tariff has been specified as a ceiling, no tariff shall be fixed in excess of such ceiling.

(iii) Where a tariff has been specified as a floor, no tariff shall be fixed below such floor.

(iv) In all other cases, a service provider may, in addition to the standard package, offer alternative combinations of tariff to different classes of subscribers in a non-discriminatory manner.

[(v) A tariff plan once offered by an Access Provider shall be available to a subscriber for a minimum period of SIX MONTHS from the date of enrolment of the subscriber to that tariff plan. However, any tariff plan presented, marketed or offered as valid for any prescribed period exceeding six months or as having lifetime or unlimited validity in lieu of an upfront payment shall continue to be available to the subscriber for the duration of the period as prescribed in the plan and in the case of lifetime or unlimited validity plans, as long as the Service Provider is permitted to provide such telecom service under the current license or renewed license. In the case of plans with lifetime validity or unlimited validity, the service provider shall also inform the subscribers of the month and year of expiry of his current license.

(c) In the case of recharge coupons with a validity of more than six months under any tariff plan, during the entire period of validity of such recharge coupon.]

[Provided that every service provider providing cellular mobile service shall offer to the subscriber at least one pre-paid and one post-paid Tariff plan with pulse duration of one second for local and national long distance calls.]

[(viii) Where the terms and conditions of any tariff plan with lifetime validity or unlimited validity include any condition or stipulation which requires any subscriber to recharge for any specified minimum amount within specified time periods or intervals during such validity so as to keep the said tariff plan valid, such specified time period or interval, shall, in no case, be less than six months:

(ix) In cases of straight tariff reductions where the declared intention of the operator is to extend the benefit to all subscribers without any attached liabilities, there shall not be any pre-condition of explicit positive action on the part of subscribers. Exercise of an option by the subscriber is relevant only when such options lead to any liability or adverse conditions on his part.]

[(x) Every service provider shall offer a Special Roaming Tariff Plan to its pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.]

[(xi) Every Telecom Service Provider shall offer at least one Plan Voucher, one Special Tariff Voucher and one Combo Voucher having a validity of thirty days.

[***]]

[(xii) Every Telecom Service Provider shall offer at least one Plan Voucher, one Special Tariff Voucher and one Combo Voucher which shall be renewable on the same date of every month and if the date of such renewal is not available in a month, the date of renewal shall be the last date of that month.]

(ii) No service provider shall alter any tariff of any telecommunication service or any part thereof without complying with the Reporting Requirement.

[(iii) If a service provider fails to comply with the Reporting Requirement, it shall, without prejudice to the terms and conditions of its licence, or the provisions of the Act or rules or regulations or orders made, or directions issued, thereunder, be liable to pay five thousand rupees, by way of financial disincentive for every day of delay subject to a maximum of two lakh rupees as the Authority may by order direct;

(ii) The Authority may also at any time, on reference from any affected party, and for good and sufficient reasons, review and modify any tariff.

Section IV

Transparency And Consumer Protection

(ii) Information of tariff packages that a service provider may choose to offer to subscribers shall be accompanied by a comparison of the financial implications to subscribers under each package vis-a-vis the specified standard package(s).

Section V

Annex A Explanatory Memorandum

1. In a letter dated 29.12.2000 BSNL reported tariffs to the Authority seeking to reduce the STD call charge from 26th January, 2001, by extending the duration of peak pulse rates for distance categories 50 to 200 kms compared to the TRAI standard tariff package for basic services. According to the letter, these revised pulse rates of BSNL, however, would apply only to "intra-circle calls originated by the telephone subscribers of BSNL, and terminating in the basic service network".

2. The Authority has received representations from COAI and ABTO that sought the Authority's intervention to enlarge the scope of BSNL's proposal in respect of inter-network calls also. They sought the Authority's intervention and requested that in the interest of level playing field:

(a) the revised pulse rates (or tariffs) should apply also to calls from fixed network to cellular mobile;

(b) the revised pulse rates should also apply for calculating the carriage charge to be paid by cellular mobile network to the fixed network;

(c) the revised pulse rates should apply for the carriage charge paid by private basic service providers to BSNL on intra-circle fixed to fixed network calls.

3. The Authority has examined the above requests at length and has determined that to ensure 'non-discrimination' and a 'level playing field', and also in the interest of consumers BSNL's revised pulse rates should also apply to the inter-network calls in cases detailed at items 2 (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c) above. While the issues covered by 2(b) and 2(c) are addressed by a Direction under Section 13 of the TRAI Act 1997, this Order relates to inter network call scenario described at 2(a) above.

4. In order to ensure that the benefit of the lower tariff offered by BSNL actually passes on to the subscribers of the private basic service operators, the latter is being directed to modify his charging regime in respect of inter-network calls originating on his network to fully reflect the tariff changes proposed by BSNL. The underlying principle is that the same tariff should be levied for same network elements used. As such, the same tariff should be applied for the fixed leg of an inter network call that traverse the same distance on the fixed network, irrespective of its termination in a fixed or a mobile network.

Section VI

Residuary Clauses

Schedule I

Basic Services (Other than ISDN)

Schedule II

Cellular Mobile Telecom Service (CMTS)

Notes:

1) All initial Reference Tariff Package of the Service Providers shall be referred to the Authority by 19/9/2002. The approved Reference Tariff Package of the service provider shall be implemented from 1st October 2002.

2) The Reference Tariff Package shall always be available to the customer together with any other tariff offers.

3) The Service Provider shall give wide publicity to its Reference Tariff Package.

4) The Authority shall continue to monitor the tariffs in the market, and if required, shall reintroduce standard tariff package(s) for one or more licensed service areas as may be deemed necessary.

5) From time to time the TRAI will make public a comprehensive list of the Reference Tariff Packages of all CMSOs in the country through its web site and through consumer organisations registered with it to keep the public informed of all Reference Tariff Packages on offer.

[***]

[Schedule IV]

Domestic Leased Circuits

Annexure to Schedule IV

Ceiling tariffs (in Rs. per annum) for
domestic leased circuits of E1 (2 Mbps), DS-3 (45 Mbps),
STM-1 (155 Mbps) and STM-4 (622 Mbps) capacities

Table I

Table II

Schedule V

ISDN Services

[Schedule XIII]

(See clause 3)

Tariff for Short Message Services (SMS) and Cell Broadcast alerts/messages disseminated by service providers through Common Alerting Protocol platform

Explanatory Memorandum

•  A large percentage of prepaid customers belong to very low-income group; a 28 days validity for such section of society means they budget their usage on a weekly basis which helps in managing their mobile expenses in a better and organized way.

•  Just mandating a tariff offer with a specific validity of 30 days or a month with requirement of tariff to be renewed only on the same date of each month, may not be of any value addition to a prepaid customer whose recharge preferences may not change by introduction of such one-off offering.

•  Prepaid journey is completely different due to the absence of the concept of "billing cycle" and the continuity of service is dependent upon the pack purchased with specified benefits and validity associated with the same.

•  Before the weekly structure of prepaid tariffs, the prevailing tariff validity was 30 days or multiples thereof, thus, we do not think the demands and representations received by the Authority, as mentioned in the consultation paper, would be for validity of 29 or 31 days or for that matter, same day on each month. Thus, if required, an introduction of a tariff offer with validity period of 30 days shall suffice.

•  With regard to monthly tariffs, i.e., tariffs wherein the customer is required to recharge on same day every month with the same fixed amount, the same is not technically possible, as this is primarily a postpaid structure. Subscribers are at liberty to opt for an advance rental option for postpaid plans to avail such a tariff structure.

•  For prepaid GSM services, BSNL is already offering prepaid vouchers with varying validity, including those of 28/ 29/ 30 and 31 days. The prepaid billing systems have been designed to work on the basis of number of days as far as validity issue is concerned.

•  Considering requirement of tariff to be renewed only on the same date of each month, will make the validity of the voucher variable (28, 29, 30 or 31 days) and such vouchers having validity of variable number of days cannot be technically configured in the present billing system.

•  Any change to existing 28/56/84 days validity structure which is prevailing in the market for a decade now will be a massive change and will require gigantic efforts in terms of consumer awareness, configurations in billing systems, publications in own and 3rd party channels and retail channel education.

•  Since 'days of a month' are not static at 30 days, customers recharge renewal date will continue to change during subsequent renewals, in both versions of validity. However, with 28/56/84 day packs, customer renewal cycle will positively occur on the same weekday as that of the earlier recharge.

•  The technical system viz. primarily IN system, is designed and evolved over years, for configuration of prepaid offerings with validity as fixed number of days like 7/14/28/30 days validity in which it is not feasible to set the due date for next recharge to be on the same date (as of initial recharge) in the subsequent month, irrespective of the number of days in the month. Thus, there would be technical limitation in existing systems for supporting recharge which has validity expiry on same day every calendar month in a year.

i) Consumer Care Society: The period specified should be a month with the condition that the plan be renewed on the same date of each month. With that change there is no need for tariff offer for 28/29/30/31 days.

ii) NCHSE, Consumer Guild, Consumer Protection Association: There is lot of confusion among consumers regarding monthly tariffs, therefore it is suggested that monthly prepaid plans should be renewed on the same date every month, regardless of how many days are there in the month.

iii) Consumer Voice: Validity periods should be standardized to say 1 Day / 7 Days / 15 Days and one month. All other validity periods should be invalid. One Month validity should mean that renewal is due on the same date of the following month.

i) Pursuitex LLP: All dates/ days must be permissible. However, there should be visible difference in price and quality to distinguish according to the prices and validity wherein consumer will have a choice to subscribe to the validity desired. Further, TRAI should mandate Standard Recharge Voucher having 30 days validity for the convenience of consumers.

ii) Dua Consulting: The tariff validity period may be considered for the same date of each month.

Explanatory Memorandum

(xi) Every Telecom Service Provider shall offer at least one Plan Voucher, one Special Tariff Voucher and one Combo Voucher having a validity of thirty days.

(xii) Every Telecom Service Provider shall offer at least one Plan Voucher, one Special Tariff Voucher and one Combo Voucher which shall be renewable on the same date of every month.

(a) The renewal date for all recharges performed from date 1 to 28th of any month would remain the same for each month of the year.

(b) The expiry of the tariff vouchers recharged on 29th/30th/31st of January would happen on 28th/29th of February.

(c) The expiry of the tariff vouchers recharged on 31st of March, May, Aug &Oct would happen on the subsequent months i.e. 30th April, June, Sept and Nov.

(i) The next date of recharge in case subscriber does his recharge on 31st of the month and the next date of recharge in case subscriber recharges the voucher on any day between 29th Jan to 31st January.

(ii) M/s VIL has stated that due to technical issues i.e consolidation of existing 4 partners to 1 partner in coming partners which may continue till May 2023, they will be implementing same day recharge voucher requirement in phases and in the interim had suggested as alternative that they can launch a 31 days' voucher which will be beneficial to customer.

(i) To modify sub-clause (xii) of clause 6 as follows:

(ii) To extend the date of implementation with above modification by 60 days.

Note 2. - The Explanatory Memorandum explains the objects and reasons for the Telecommunication Tariff (Sixty Eighth Amendment) Order, 2022.

Explanatory Memorandum

1. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (hereinafter referred to as the Authority) is established under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (TRAI Act). Section 11(2) of the TRAI Act inter alia states: "

2. In exercise of these powers, the Authority has been notifying tariffs for various telecommunication services including Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) based mobile banking and payment service. The tariffs for USSD based mobile banking and payment service have been regulated in the form of ceiling tariffs prescribed by the Authority under item (8) of Schedule II of the Telecommunication Tariff Order 1999, as amended from time to time. The purpose of the present amendment to the TTO is to revise the framework for USSD based mobile banking and payment services. This explanatory memorandum aims to provide the rationale and reasons for issuing this amendment.

3. In December, 2011, Department of Financial Services (DFS) was allocated USSD code *99# by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for mobile banking services through the USSD gateway of National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). In April, 2012, TRAI mandated that every Telecom Service Provider (TSP) should facilitate the banks to use USSD to provide banking services to its customers in not more than two stage entry of options in the case of USSD. In November, 2012, NPCI launched a USSD Gateway (National Unified USSD Platform) for enabling mobile banking through the USSD channel. In 2013, the Authority through the Mobile Banking (Quality of Service) (Amendment) Regulations, 2013, increased the maximum number of stages for completing a mobile banking transaction from two to five, primarily to increase the number of banking services available to USSD consumers.

4. The Authority through Telecommunication Tariff (Fifty Sixth Amendment) Order, 2013, prescribed a ceiling tariff of Rs. 1.50 per USSD session for USSD-based mobile banking service and established a framework to facilitate the agents of the banks to interface with the access service providers for use of USSD to provide mobile banking services. Further, with a view to facilitate mobile banking through USSD for financial inclusion, the Authority reduced the USSD- based ceiling tariff for banking and payment services from Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 0.50 per session through the Telecommunication Tariff (Sixty First Amendment) Order, 2016 and increased the number of stages from five to eight stages per USSD session through the Mobile Banking (Quality of Service) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2016. The Authority also suggested various mechanisms viz., improvement in software features, design of user-friendly menu, increase in consumer awareness, developing Unified USSD platform to support transactions across all payment platforms to the NPCI/Banks to increase usage and popularity of this service.

5. Subsequently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a High-Level Committee on Deepening of Digital Payments (CDDP) with the objective of encouraging digitization of payments and enhancing financial inclusion through digitization. The committee recommended further rationalization of USSD charges to increase its adoption and popularity. RBI urged the Authority for a follow-up action on the recommendations made by CDDP and provide the required regulatory framework for the same.

6. Government of India, Department of Financial Services (DFS) also supported the recommendations made by the High-Level Committee and requested for waiving off USSD charges to facilitate faster adoption of this service by common people especially in rural/ difficult areas, the segment of population for whom the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) Accounts scheme has been established to promote financial inclusion. Following a request from the DFS in this regard, the Authority initiated a consultation process to further rationalize USSD charges.

7. Accordingly, the Authority issued draft Telecommunication Tariff (66th Amendment) Order, 2021 on 24th November, 2021 proposing "Nil" charges per USSD session for mobile banking and payment service. The comments and counter comments on the draft Order were sought from the stakeholders by 8th December, 2021 and 17th December, 2021 respectively. In response, one association, four service providers and one organization furnished their comments and one organization submitted its counter comment.

8. Some stakeholders have contended that since USSD transactions make use of their network and infrastructure, they incur capex investment as well as operational expenditure in providing this service. They further argued that in case this service is made free of cost, they must be adequately compensated for this expenditure by banks through NPCI. Additionally, a few stakeholders suggested that in case USSD charges are removed then the regulatory obligations related to this service should also be done away with.

9. One stakeholder also suggested that the charges for USSD should be brought down in a phased manner to ascertain any direct correlation between the revised pricing and uptake of the USSD services.

10. Some stakeholders have favored the removal of charge to aid digital financial inclusion.

11. In order to rationalize USSD charges to bring them in line with other services, the present level of tariffs for the major services being offered by the TSPs was examined. The present level of tariffs for wireless service for the quarter ended September, 2021 is indicated in the Table below:

12. The above table clearly indicates that the present ceiling tariff of Rs. 0.50 for each USSD session for mobile banking is quite high as compared to the average tariff for one minute of outgoing voice call as well as for one outgoing SMS.

13. Also, in terms of revenue, the total revenue generated through USSD mobile banking sessions is quite small at approximately 0.00007% of the total revenue of the industry.

14. It is also pertinent to note that the information furnished for two consecutive quarters of F.Y 2021-22 by the TSPs providing this service indicates that the USSD sessions for self-care service^[2] constitute 99.5% of the total USSD sessions and the remaining miniscule share of 0.5% pertains to USSD sessions for mobile banking and payment services.

15. It is logical to assume that the network cost involved in handling USSD self-care service session is the same as the cost for USSD mobile banking and payment session. Still these self-care USSD sessions are available without any charge to the end-users whereas USSD mobile banking and payment services are being charged at the ceiling tariff.

16. Further, one operator is providing USSD non-self-care service free of charge at present whereas, other operators are charging at the ceiling tariff of Rs. 0.50 per session. On analysis of the information available, it is observed that the number of USSD mobile banking and payment sessions, for the operator that doesn't charge, is four times the number of sessions initiated at ceiling tariff. Thus, it can be assumed that the users prefer the operator providing this service free of charge. This substantiates the analysis of the Authority that a reduction in charge for this service may help popularize this service and increase its adoption.

² USSD based self-care service refers to the self-care/ self-help/ self-support services offered by the telecom service providers to their subscribers through the use of USSD. This service is used by USSD subscribers to seek information on pre-paid balance, validity period, details of tariff plan etc. by dialing a USSD code.

17. The Authority is of the view that since the USSD target users are generally low-income rural population who are still using feature phones, imposing no charge for USSD service can have a positive impact on number of USSD transactions, which will be a significant step towards achieving digital financial inclusion. It will also not impact the revenues of the industry substantially, especially when similar transactions for self-care services are being provided free by the service providers. Therefore, the Authority has decided to do away with the charges prescribed for USSD for mobile banking and payment service, while keeping the remaining aspects unchanged. The Authority will continue to keep a watch on the progress of service and may review the charge after a period of two years.

Explanatory Memorandum

"Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885), the Authority may, from time to time, by order, notify in the Official Gazette the rates at which the telecommunication services within India and outside India shall be provided under this Act including the rates at which messages shall be transmitted to any country outside India:
Provided that the Authority may notify different rates for different persons or class of persons for similar telecommunication services and where different rates are fixed as aforesaid the Authority shall record the reasons therefor".

(i) Alerts/ messages sent during non-disaster situation which may be on chargeable basis.

(ii) Alerts/ messages sent as per DM Act, 2005 prior to notification of disaster which may be on chargeable basis.

(iii) Alerts/ messages sent during disaster situation as per DM Act, 2005 and extant SOP which will be free; and

(iv) Alerts/messages sent during a disaster situation, other than those sent as per Disaster Management Act 2005.

(i) Technical options available with the TSPs for mass message dissemination during disasters and non-disasters;

(ii) Preferred mode of mass message dissemination viz., SMS or Cell Broadcast Service (CBS);

(iii) Success rate of message delivery and challenges of SMS and CBS

(iv) Need for an elaborate tariff fixation exercise for CAP messages, methodology of tariff fixation, and charges for SMS and CBS.

•  The success rate of SMS dissemination through CAP is similar to normal SMS delivery, which is better compared to delivery through CBS and is not dependent on user equipment compatibility.

•  SMS is compatible on all handsets whereas CBS may require manual configuration on handsets. Cell Broadcast has many disadvantages and hence, SMS Broadcast is a superior, smarter, and effective option.

•  The cost of provisioning of SMS alerts/ messages should be compensated for. It is not an economically prudent and viable option to expand the scope of free-of- cost SMSs/ alert messages. Reimbursement per message of Rs 0.02 should be allowed during the period of disaster. However, if the Government feels it should be free of cost which is the current practice, it may choose to continue to do so. For all other categories of messages, reimbursement should be at the rate of Rs 0.07 per message.

•  As SMS and CBS are complementary to each other, combination of suitable methods can be adopted depending on type of network, location, availability of time etc.

•  For CBS dissemination, CB channel has to be kept always 'on' in mobile handset and consumer would need to be made aware of this aspect.

•  SMS dissemination services should not be provided free of cost because the resources used for connectivity to CAP and other deployments by TSPs will not be available for commercial use; hence there should be proper compensation.

•  BSNL does not have sufficient data to calculate cost-based tariff for CBS message. Price should be fixed at Rs. 0.05 for SMS. For CBS, charges for alert messages may not be calculated on the basis of subscriber base and on the basis of network elements such as number of cells, etc.

•  SMS is the preferred mode of disseminating messages during disasters/ non- disasters as it is more customer friendly and it provides a clear advantage in the diverse device spread in the country, specially in remote and rural areas.

•  Disagreed on making all messages using CAP based platform free; requested the Authority to protect the legitimate revenue of the TSPs and prescribe a fair tariff for these SMS; a reasonable tariff for SMS sent through CAP platform will not only compensate the TSPs for the specialized resources utilized but will also act as a deterrent for overuse or frivolous use of the facilities.

•  No extensive costing exercise is required; market forces are already in play in costing of bulk messages, and the Authority can adopt the market discovered tariffs with minor adjustments, if required. The CAP platform developed and operated by TSPs, can also be used by the TSPs for their own commercial use for offering similar services to non-government entities.

•  Charge of 10p / SMS may be prescribed by the Authority for all the non-disaster messages through CAP platform, while SMSs during disasters situations can continue to be free.

•  SMS is well understood by end consumers whereas cell-based broadcast does not add any significant value to the alert systems for disaster management, besides posing other technical challenges including handset dependence. Hence, SMS broadcast is the preferred mode of alert dissemination during disaster or even for non-disaster related alerts.

•  There is already a service SMS charge defined by the Authority through the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), 2018 i.e., Rs 0.05 per SMS + Rs 0.02 SMS termination charge, which should be used for fixing the tariff for non-disaster SMS through CAP platforms. Further, during disaster there is significant cost escalation in running the network and services. Therefore, we recommend the Authority to put in place tariff/ reimbursement of SMS termination charge (i.e., Rs 0.02/ SMS) for disaster specific SMS alerts sent through CAP platform.

•  The performance of SMS is much better on many parameters like delivery time, reliability, suitability to cover smaller geographic areas etc., making it an obvious choice of disseminating messages to selective geographies. Under CBS, delivery of communication is device dependent.

•  There is a cost involved which needs to be recovered. This will enable TSPs to provide efficient and better service during various disasters. Thus, it will be economically prudent and viable that tariff should be chargeable at all times (disaster/ non-disaster). In order to ensure recovery of costs, the SMS charges (through CAP) should be at least 2 paise for disaster- and 7 paise per non- disaster-SMS.

•  To enable CBS, there are various key dependencies, which if not met, severely impact delivery. These include: dependency on Government side, dependency on CBS, dependency on 2G/ 3G/ 4G network, dependency on security aspects/ IP networking, dependency on handsets/ devices etc.

•  Despite disadvantages, CBS is the most implemented technology in delivering Public Warning System (PWS) messages. An Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) should be put in place, modernizing and integrating the nation's alerting and warning infrastructure.

•  A mobile phone text alert system is not the complete answer to the problem of disseminating emergency messages quickly during a crisis. The customer may miss an alert entirely, depending on contextual factors.

•  TSPs should broadcast messages at regular intervals, to all the subscribers in the affected areas through SMS/ Cell Broadcast, free of charge before, during, and after disaster period as a part of corporate social responsibility.

•  Hybrid Mass Message dissemination engines/ PWS should be considered as these also benefit from automated interfaces with other public warning and information channels to ensure the broadest coverage, accessibility, and reach.

•  All phones connected to telecom networks support SMS and the user does not need to configure anything on the device as the cell broadcast client for government alerts is embedded/ available on all Android, iPhone and Windows phones in most of the CB based countries/ markets. However, depending on how each device is pre-configured for a specific country/ market, a user might need to turn on the alerting function/ configure the same to receive alerts.

•  Setting up a tariff per message may be difficult and could easily end up to be far too low or far too high to cover the costs of deploying a Public Warning System. Also, keeping CAP messages free of cost would be a direct transfer of burden on TSP's as they have to incur costs for infrastructure, maintenance and support delivery of CAP messages; hence not advisable.

•  In order to compare the costs and effectiveness of PWS, it is advisable to have similar/ same cost for CB/ SMS technology used for PWS.

•  Due to the unpredictability of the number of alerts and the number of citizens going to be reached, an option could be to charge per SMS sent/ population in the targeted (for CB) area basis and bear the costs of deploying a warning system and keeping it operational.

•  An Open House Discussion (OHD) was held on 19.01.2022 through video-conference mode, wherein about 80 attendees participated. TRAI received two comments post-OHD from NDMA and C-DoT.

•  According to NDMA, there should be exemption of tariff for SMS and Cell Broadcast based alerts disseminated through CAP platform for events/ calamities related to cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire (including forest fires), floods, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack and frost/ cold wave. In extraordinary circumstances, Government may declare an event other than those listed above as 'National Disaster' thereby invoking exemption of tariff. SMS and Cell Broadcast are complementary to each other. In order to mitigate the loss of life and property, it is appropriate to incorporate Cell Broadcast in the CAP-based Early Warning Platform.

•  C-DoT mainly highlighted the SMS and Cell Broadcast dissemination duration as observed during the pilot project for the State of Tamil Nadu and based on recent dissemination through the pan-India CAP project. It has been stated that Cell Broadcast (CB) based dissemination is the need of the hour where lead-time to disasters is less. SMS dissemination may not reach the public in critical situations where the lead-time available for disasters is less such as for gas leakage incidents, tsunami, lightning, etc. The fact that CB based dissemination is a newer technology should not be perceived as a deterrent for its implementation in India.

•  It is noted that two stakeholders have raised the issue of Cell Broadcast resulting in corruption on the SIMs; however, evidence or supporting details have not been provided. Further, C-DoT has stated that the Cell Broadcast Service, as defined by 3GPP specifications, is technically feasible and compatible with SIM technology. C-DoT has further mentioned that corruption of SIM cards seems to be a misconception as such a critical defect would not have allowed the use of cell broadcast internationally.

•  Among the technical options available for CAP system, SMS and CBS based dissemination are complementary to each other. Therefore, Authority is of the view that both SMS and CBS based methods should be considered for implementation. However, in emergency scenarios CBS has vital advantages over SMS, in that CB alerts can be disseminated to millions of devices instantly, based on subscribers' locations. Also unlike SMS text services, Cell Broadcast has its own dedicated broadcast channel and continues to function even when the network is congested as often happens in emergency situations. This makes Cell Broadcast a better choice for public warning systems. Cell Broadcast has therefore garnered much interest from public authorities across the world for emergency alerts services including EU-Alert (Europe), CMAS/ WEA (USA), National Message (Israel), LAT-Alert (Chile) as well as the Earthquake Tsunami Warning System (Japan).

•  In case of message/alert dissemination through CAP platform, CAP platform will act as Originating Access Provider as it will directly connect to each TSP that will act as Terminating Access Provider. The Authority has carefully considered whether an elaborate costing exercise needs to be carried out before arriving at decisions related to the charging arrangements for SMS and Cell Broadcast alerts/ messages are arrived at.

•  With respect to SMS alerts/ messages, the Authority notes that termination charges for SMS are provided for in other Regulations issued by the Authority. According to Chapter II of the Short Message Services (SMS) Termination Charges Regulations, 2013 -

"Termination charges for Short Message Services (SMS): -

Every Originating Access Provider shall pay to the Terminating Access Provider a termination charge of Re. 0.02 (paise two only) for each Short Message Service (SMS) terminated by it on the network of Terminating Access Provider.

•  As per para 6.2(xii) of SOP-2020 of DoT for responding to disasters it is mentioned that "TSPs shall broadcast messages at regular intervals, in consultation with STDCC/NTDCC, to all the subscribers in the affected areas through SMSs / Cell broadcast free of cost during disaster period based upon instructions of Nodal authorities as per DM act 2005 i.e. National Executive Committee(NEC)/National Crisis Management Committee(NCMC)/State Executive Committee(SEC). This shall provide details about:

b) Details about rescue and relief activities of state government such as tentative schedule of food / water distribution / nearest shelter/ shelter camp etc. as per need of State agencies."

Further, DoT letter dt 25.3.2021 also mentioned that as per above SOP, DoT allows SMS/Cell Broadcast free of cost for definite period and for events where specific request for free of cost messages comes from NEC/NCMC/SEC/Nodal Authorities.

•  As per para 29.6 of License Agreement for Unified License it is mentioned that "Disaster/Emergency/Public Utility Services:

The Licensee shall follow the guidelines /directions/ standard operating procedures as may be prescribed for the disaster management/emergency response services or any other instruction issued by Licensor in this regard from time to time."

•  Saving life and mitigation of the damaging aftereffects of disaster is a matter of paramount importance. Therefore, swiftness of response of all concerned becomes absolutely critical in the lead up to, during and after expiry of the disaster. Accordingly depending on the exigency of the situation messages/ alerts may have to be issued under the direction of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The social costs of inadequate or delayed response to disasters is extremely high. Considering the significance of alerts/messages sent prior to and after expiry of the disaster, Authority is of the view that no charges shall be levied for SMS sent prior to and after expiry of disaster as per direction issued under DM Act, 2005 in congruence with practice of sending free SMS/Cell Broadcast as per SOP-2020 of DoT.

•  In case of Cell Broadcast alerts/ messages, the Authority notes that this alternative presents an effective and speedy answer to the problem of quick transmission of different kinds of alerts/ messages. No clear evidence has been presented by stakeholders regarding the investments required to be made for enabling CBS, and it is the view of the Authority that the costs that may be involved in setting up and running CBS are not material when compared to the advantages offered by the system in ensuring a quick and easy dissemination of alerts/ messages. Further, the Authority is also conscious of the complexity of arriving at a reasonable basis for charging of CBS services, given the technical features of the system. A complex charging mechanism for CBS would be sub- optimal and inefficient to the context for its use and c

•  In light of the above, the Authority is of the view that a case is made out for charges to be levied/ paid by authorities/ agencies for sending SMS alerts/ messages in two situations, namely, (1) where the alerts/ messages are sent during non-disaster situation, and (2) where the alerts/ messages are unrelated to disaster but are sent during disaster by agencies other than designated nodal agencies under DM Act, 2005. Upon balancing the needs of simplicity, safety, and quick response time on the one hand and the costs involved on the other, no case is made out for levying/ paying charges for SMS alerts/ messages in the other two cases, as well as for Cell Broadcast alerts/ messages in all four cases. Accordingly, the Authority has decided the following charges for SMS and Cell Broadcast alerts/ messages disseminated by TSPs through Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) platform during disasters and non-disasters based upon instructions on/from Nodal Authorities as per Disaster Management Act, 2005/ other agencies. The following tariff table is being inserted as schedule-XIII under clause 3 of Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999 in pursuance of the decision of the Authority:

The above tariffs shall be chargeable by terminating TSPs from the originator of SMS alerts or messages.

•  The Authority shall review the tariffs after a period of two years, keeping in view the experience gained in the running of the CAP platform during this period.