The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday imposed a hefty penalty of up to Rs 2.50 lakh (Rs 250,000) on erring telemarketing companies which also face the prospect of getting blacklisted.
The IT department had issued a tax assessment order in December 2011 asking Vodafone to add Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) to its taxable income, thus raising the tax liability of the company.
In order to consider giving mobile Internet connectivity on such SIM cards, the telecom service providers will have to verify the credentials of the subscribers.
Mobile operators have strongly opposed the decision of telecom regulator Trai to impose penalties on them for unsolicited calls, saying the move is "unfair" and would discourage service providers which cannot be blamed for the nuisance.
Banking and telecom will see the highest impact of this transition.
Former Telecom Minister Sukhram, convicted for taking Rs 3 lakhs as bribe to give a lucrative contract to a private firm in 1996, today pleaded for leniency in a Delhi court on grounds of his old age while the Central Bureau of Investigation called him a "habitual offender" and sought maximum punishment for him.
Trai is planning to map the quality of service of all telcos.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India came down heavily on telemarketers on Tuesday by imposing a fine of Rs 500 on them for each unsolicited commercial call or message -- a move that would give relief to telephone users.
Amid growing consumer dissatisfaction, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal will hold the first round table with consumer user groups to look into their grievances in issues like pesky calls, hidden costs in tariffs and ineffective redressal system, among others.
In its recommendations to the government, Trai said the provision of calling cards would allow consumer to exercise choice of long distance operator for the national and international calls. The authority has, therefore, recommended amendment of NLD/ILD operators licence conditions to allow them to access customers directly for national and international long distance calls, respectively.
Telecom regulator TRAI on Wednesday initiated a discussion on allowing subscribers of one operator to choose another operator for making long distance (STD and ISD) calls, a move that would feed competition and improve quality of services.
Have you been troubled by calls from business ventures wanting to sell credit cards, insurance policies, etc? Do you feel such calls should be banned? Tell us!
The launch of cheaper voice call rates through special tariff vouchers has come at a time when the sector has been seeing frequent increase in mobile call prices and reduction of discounts under schemes of various service providers since mid-2011.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam on Tuesday announced a major reduction in the international long distance call rates for Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Gulf and SAARC countries to Rs 12 per minute from the existing Rs 18 a minute.
Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday suspended the newly-implemented norms for commercial text messages for one week, following major disruptions in SMS and OTP deliveries for banking, payment, and other transactions.
The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has awarded a 5-year outsourcing contract to a Delhi-based call centre, Caretel Infotech, a part of Dalmiya group, for about Rs 300 crore.
The impending merger between Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) with HDFC Bank may create challenges for large-cap fund managers, most of whom are already grappling to match the returns generated by their benchmarks. The combined weight following the merger in the benchmark Sensex and Nifty 50 indices is likely to be much higher than permissible limits for active mutual fund (MF) schemes. This could have a bearing on the performance of large-cap funds if HDFC Bank shares outperform the markets, as the schemes will be forced to remain underweight on the stock to adhere to the single-stock cap.
Telcos say tests were done in the known problematic areas of Delhi-NCR, where operators face issues in obtaining cell sites.
BSNL has just launched a closed user group plan for Other Backward classes (OBCs) in Maharashtra. It has tied up with the Satyashodhak OBC Parishad, a non-political organisation, for a prepaid talk time plan at nominal charges.
VoIP major Gingertalk, powered by Anyuser Telecom, has slashed its ISD call rates, especially to the US and Canada.
Notwithstanding strong demand by Bharatiya Janata Party members for calling Finance Minister P Chidambaram, the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining 2G spectrum allocation scam is unlikely to call him or any other minister as witnesses.
The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) on Wednesday received over Rs 17,873 crore from companies towards 5G spectrum dues. Nearly half the amount (Rs 8312.4 crore) was paid by Bharti Airtel, which made advance payments for four years to free up cash for future investments. Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea paid Rs 7,864 crore and Rs 1,680 crore, respectively.
BT Group Plc, Britain's largest fixed-line telecom provider, said on Friday its BT retail unit would set up two call centres in India, joining a long list of firms moving to that country in a bid to cut costs.
VoIP services come in real handy to make cheap overseas calls.
Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan appealed to people to boycott products from China and also directed officials of his ministry not to procure any Chinese products for day-to-day office use while his ministerial colleague Ramdas Athawale said all restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food in India should be closed down.
Mobile phone companies wish to curtail toll-free calls from customers. According to a proposal being evaluated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), calls made by customers to the phone company, other than complaints, will have to be charged.
BSNL has slashed rates of all such calls from its landline network to the level of local call rates of Rs 0.80-1.20, depending upon the rate plan, with a pulse of three minutes.
Operators to miss January 1 deadline, express inability to upgrade system before 4-6 months.
Bharti Airtel on Thursday launched fixed wireless phone services in the country and unveiled an offer for subscribers under which they need to pay only Rs 1.20 for a 3 minute call to all local and intra-circle mobiles.
The implementation of Sachar Committee report on empowerment of Muslims also came up for discussion at the meeting called by Singh to review the progress of schemes under the National Common Minimum Programme. Social sector programmes like Mid-day Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Scheme, revamping of Public Distribution System, implementation of Social Security Initiatives like old age pension, health insurance schemes for disabled persons also came up for scrutiny.
In a move that will give major relief to millions of subscribers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will on Tuesday announce new guidelines to curb the menace of unsolicited calls by imposing hefty penalties on errant telemarketing firms and operators.
With 3G services set to become a reality by year-end, over millions of mobile users can experience real-quick downloading of full length movies or music files, live TV and video calls.
This State-corporate 'cooperation' didn't begin with the arrival of the Modi government.
Many of the big licences, contracts, and even environmental clearances for the Adani group had come in the UPA's time, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Do you get unwanted phone calls from business ventures wanting to sell credit cards, insurance policies, travel packages, or any such services or goods? Do you feel such calls should be banned?
Telecom firms earning foreign exchange on incoming overseas calls, Internet services and rentals from cable networks are not entitled to duty sops under an export promotion scheme, says the government.
In his first public appearance after talks were called off on September 30, Mittal, who is CMD of Bharti Airtel said, "No further talks with MTN and the current round is over."
The minimum amount of recharge is Rs 10 and the maximum is Rs 250.
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