TRAI seeking to expand its tariff-comparison website to all circles
What's the story
Last month, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) launched a website where users can compare mobile and landline tariffs of different telecom operators including Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea. The web portal is in beta phase and only available for Delhi and Gujarat circles. As its next phase of expansion, TRAI is seeking tariff plans from all telecom operators in all circles.
Details
Comparison of pan-India (22 telecom circles) tariff data
"We would like to get the information with us before a month," TRAI said. TRAI can reportedly get the website fully functional with tariff data of all circles within a fortnight of acquiring that information but no formal timeline has been set to do so. TRAI added the new platform will not only benefit consumers but also third-party stakeholders for doing a comparative analysis.
Motive
The website will increase transparency on tariff offerings
With the website, TRAI aims to increase transparency on multiple tariff offerings and help users become better informed on the same through a single platform. Currently, users have to visit individual websites of different telecom operators to get information on various mobile and landline tariffs. Notably, the recharge plans on TRAI's website are available in a downloadable format.
Functionality
Compare recharge plans of Jio, Airtel, Vodafone
To compare tariffs, users have to choose mobile or landline, prepaid or postpaid, circle, and telecom operator. They can also filter their search by technology (2G/3G/4G), pricing, total data and daily data cap, and specific requirements like unlimited calling, ISD, international roaming, and SMS. Post this, they can compare product, price, talk time, validity, and tariff summary across telcos.
Information
Can't compare two different types of tariff plans
Users will only be able to compare similar types of plans. For example, a Combo offer cannot be compared with an STV (Special Tariff Voucher). This can be limiting as subscribers are usually not aware of different types of plans like Combo, STV, and Top-Up.