No Charges On Customers For Multiple SIM Cards, Says TRAI

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has clarified that customers will not be charged for holding multiple SIM cards.

"The speculation that TRAI intends to impose charges on customers for holding multiple SIMs or numbering resources is unequivocally false," the regulator said in a release. "Such claims are unfounded and serve only to mislead the public."

TRAI came out with a consultation paper on the revision of the national numbering plan on June 6, inviting comments from stakeholders. Media reports had claimed the regulator may impose charges on mobile operators, which may be passed on to customers holding multiple SIMs.

The regulator aims to propose amendments that would refine allocation policies and utilisation procedures, thereby ensuring a sufficient reserve of telecommunication identifier resources for present and future requirements, it said.

The Department of Telecom, being the sole custodian of telecommunication identifier resources, had approached TRAI, seeking recommendations on a revised national numbering plan for "undertaking efficient management and judicious utilisation of numbering resources in the country."

The consultation paper, hence, was issued with the aim of assessing all factors currently affecting the allocation and utilisation of telecommunication identifier resources, it said.

Comments on the consultation paper can be given by July 18.