New rules set to speed up India’s broadband

In 2006 the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) introduced regulations on the quality of broadband services, stipulating benchmarks and parameters for bandwidth exploitation and network connectivity. Among the main aims of the 2006 regulations was “to protect the interests of consumers of broadband service and enhance consumer satisfaction”.

There has been tremendous growth in the subscription of internet/broadband services, but also a high number of complaints from subscribers, most alleging that the available broadband speed is lower than what was promised by service providers. The 2006 regulations failed to address this issue.

Attempting to counter this problem and improve service quality, on 2 March TRAI issued a set of guidelines for internet/broadband service providers. The guidelines stipulate that providers should: (i) provide adequate information to subscribers regarding the internet/broadband services it offers, in order to ensure transparency and consumer awareness; and (ii) provide information about contention ratios in their tariff plans submitted to TRAI, in their manuals, at call centres and on their websites.

The legislative and regulatory update is compiled by Nishith Desai Associates, a Mumbai-based law firm. The authors can be contacted at nishith@nishithdesai.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.