Regulation of Tariff has been mandated to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) vide the TRAI Act of 1997. As per the extant TRAI guidelines, there is no bar on offering tariff plans such as Zero Rental Plans provided that there are no fixed monthly charges applicable in such plans.
In order to protect the interest of the subscribers and to enhance transparency in the provision of service, TRAI has issued Direction to the Telecom companies on 16th September, 2005, which inter-alia mandates-
I. No tariff plan shall be offered, presented, marketed or advertised in a manner that is likely to mislead the subscribers. For example, title of a tariff plan which suggests absence of Rental would be misleading if the plan has Monthly Mandatory Fixed charge in one form or other.
II. All monthly fixed recurring charges which are compulsory for a subscriber under any given plan shall be shown under one head. This should also include charges for Value Added Services, if such Value Added Services are not optional for the subscriber.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
yaa..good move..it can be say a very good decision because most of the subscribers are missguided by such scheme and thay never put trust on other companies due to unhiden chares.