New Delhi: Mobile subscribers from May 3 will be able to port their numbers anywhere in the country while changing service providers, as telecom regulator Trai has amended the regulation on it.
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) currently allows consumers to change their service provider while retaining the same number only within a telecom circle, which in most cases, is limited to a State.
A person, for instance, while shifting from Delhi to Chennai will be able to retain the same mobile number while selecting a service provider.
In a statement on Wednesday, Trai said it has "...Issued sixth amendment to the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulation, 2009, which will facilitate full Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the country, with effect from May 3, 2015."
The Department of Telecom had on November 3 issued amendments to MNP licence agreement stating that MNP is to be implemented across the country within a period of six months from the date of amendment of the licences.
"Accordingly, the Authority has made the Sixth Amendment to the MNP Regulations effective from 3rd May 2015," Trai said.
Meanwhile, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said that Trai has levied a financial disincentive of Rs 9.44 crore on mobile operators for violations regarding MNP.
The maximum disincentive of Rs 4.68 crore was imposed on Bharti Airtel, followed by Aircel with Rs 1.57 crore, Vodafone at Rs 1.21 crore and BSNL at Rs 1.09 crore.
Idea Cellular's financial disincentive stood at Rs 54.62 lakh, Reliance Telecom at Rs 47,000 and Sistema Shyam Teleservices at Rs 5.09 lakh.
Prasad said Trai has made a provision of imposing a financial disincentive not exceeding Rs 5,000 for each contravention in case of timeline violations and a financial disincentive not exceeding Rs 10,000 for each wrongful rejection of the request for porting.
