Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology on Tuesday held a roundtable conference with consumer user groups of telecom and consumer forums to deliberate upon various concerns of consumers of telecom services. Opening the discussions the Minister said that the consumer satisfaction is the ultimate for any sector or industry to prosper. He underlined that the telecom service providers must positively respond to address the grievances of consumers.

Sibal called upon the participating service providers to ensure that the consumers get the fair treatment, value for their money and speedy and effective settlement of their legitimate grievances. The Minister also stressed that the government agencies should ensure that the laws and systems continue to protect the interests of the consumers and should also see that the existing laws are implemented in letter and spirit.

The participants deliberated upon several issues including concerns around the rights of telecom consumers, various ways to protect their interests and the issue of further empowering TRAI to ensure that it can play the role of an effective regulator. 

Speaking on the occasion, Sachin Pilot, the Minister of State for Communication & IT, said that the sector has registered a phenomenal growth during last two decades. “The telecom industry is now mature enough and the larger issues like the quality of service and consumers’ satisfaction are the benchmark,” he said.

The other key issues that were deliberated included: mobile number portability, activation of VAS services and its charges, receipt of unsolicited calls and unwanted messages, billing and metering issues, quality of broadband services and nationwide emergency helpline number.