TRAI Postpones Deadline To Roll Out New Mobile Number Portability Process

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has postponed the implementation of revised Mobile Number Portability process, scheduled to come into effect on Nov.11.

The telecom regulator cited “technical issues” at telecom firms’ and porting service providers’ end for the move, and emphasised on the need for full robust testing prior to migration.

A fresh date will be notified in due course. The MNP process, for now, will continue in accordance with the existing norms.

TRAI said it is imperative that robust testing should be completed successfully before migration to the new process so that the subscribers are not inconvenienced due to any system-related issues.

The revamped MNP rules aim to makes the entire process faster and simpler, and TRAI has prescribed two days timeline for MNP requests within a service area, cutting the migration process from seven days.

The telecom regulator had issued latest changes in MNP regulations in December 2018. According to these regulations and subsequent notifications, the revised MNP process was scheduled to come into force from Nov. 11. “However, it was observed that earlier-indicated timelines cannot be adhered to due to some technical issues at the end of telecom operators and MNP service providers,” TRAI said.

Accordingly, TRAI said, the date of implementation of the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2018, “needs to be postponed”.―Bloomberg Quint