TRAI sets Dec 17 deadline for counter-comments on USSD regulation draft

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a draft Telecommunication Tariff (66th Amendment) Order, 2021 on “Regulatory framework for USSD-based tariff” on 24th November 2021 inviting comments from the stakeholders by 8th December, 2021.

“TRAI has received request from the stakeholders to give additional time for submission of counter-comments. The Authority has therefore, considered to grant the request for submission of counter comments upto 17th December, 2021,” the regulator said in an official statement.

Private telecom operators have requested the sector regulator to implement a graduated reduction in charges for unstructured supplementary service data or USSD-based mobile banking and payment services, noting that making such services free overnight would put the debt-ridden industry under more financial strain.

They have requested that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) create a suitable mechanism to compensate telcos by allowing them to recover costs and removing existing quality of service (QoS) obligations if the tariff for such USSD-based services is suddenly reduced to zero from the current 50 paise per session. CT Bureau