Guidelines for Audit of Metering and Billing Systems

F. No. C-2/8/(1)/2021-QoS Dated: 19-09-2023

To

a. All Unified Access Service Licensees b. All Unified Licensee(s) with Authorization for Access Service c. All empaneled auditors to audit the accuracy of metering and billing systems of the service providers

Subject: Implementation of Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulations, 2023 (03 of 2023) dated 11.09.2023 – Guidelines thereof.

TRAI has issued Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulations, 2023 (03 of 2023) on 11.09.2023, repealing the extant regulation the Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulations, 2006 (05 of 2006). These regulations shall come into force from 01st day of April 2024.

2. In this regard, attention of the addressee, is invited to the Sub regulation (6) of regulation 5 of Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulations, 2023 (03 of 2023) which provides that, “Every service provider shall adhere to such guidelines and checklist for the audit, as may be issued by the Authority in this regard, from time to time”.

3. In accordance with the provisions contained in the sub regulation (6) of regulation 5 of Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulations, 2023 (03 of 2023) dated 11.09.2023, the Authority issues herewith the guidelines for the audit of metering and billing systems of the service providers, enclosed as Annexure-A.

4. All Unified Access Service Licensees, Unified Licensee(s) with Authorization for Access Service including the auditors empaneled to conduct audit under these regulations, shall undertake the audit of metering and billing systems of the service providers in accordance with these guidelines.

Enclosure: Annexure-A

(Tejpal Singh) Advisor (QoS-I)

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Annexure ‘A’

Guidelines for Audit of the Metering and Billing System under Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulations, 2023

1 Introduction The audit, under Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulations, 2023, shall be conducted for accuracy of metering and billing system(s) whether centralized or distributed, herein after called as Metering and Billing System, as well as records pertaining to billing including subscribed tariffs on offer and billing complaints as per these regulations.

2 Empanelment of Auditors: TRAI shall empanel auditors for conducting audit as per the provisions of the Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulation 2023.

3 Obligations of the Service Providers Every service provider shall

3.1 get its Metering and Billing System(s) and Licensed Service Areas, audited for access service by an auditor, appointed in accordance with the said regulations in such a manner that –

(i) the audit of the accuracy of each Billing System, whether centralized or distributed, at different locations/zones, is to be done before taking up the audit of any Licensed Service Area being served by that Billing System;

(ii) each Billing System is audited at least once in a financial year latest by 30th June of the financial year;

(iii) each Licensed Service Area is audited for accuracy of metering and billing at least once in a financial year;

(iv) the Licensed Service Areas, for the purposes of audit, are evenly distributed throughout the four quarters of a financial year as far as possible and in every quarter of a financial year, at least one Licensed Service Area is audited.

3.2 submit to the Authority, by the fifteenth day of April of the financial year, its annual schedule of audit, containing the details of Billing Systems and Licensed Service Areas scheduled to be audited.

3.3 ensure that the audit shall be conducted in accordance with the Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulation 2023 and the guidelines/ checklist issued by the Authority from time to time.

3.4 submit the details of data related to billing complaints, all outstanding amounts, to be refunded to the subscribers, at the beginning of the financial year for all LSAs to the Authority and the auditors.

3.5 provide to the auditor, within thirty days of receipt of request, the raw call data records pertaining to service usage.

3.6 provide to the auditor, within seven days of receipt of request, the addresses of the metering and billing systems with details of LSAs being served by it, and LSA(s) offered for audit with contact details of the nodal officers in charge for the audit and other relevant documents as may be required by the auditor, for the conduct of audit.

3.7 ensure that empaneled auditors are facilitated in the smooth conduct of audit.

3.8 provide access to the Metering and Billing System or any other node(s) relevant for the purpose for audit and documents upon request from the auditors.

3.9 provide to the auditors, written comments or clarifications with necessary documents and/or system-generated records on every audit observations, in the given time frame. The detailed comments shall inter-alia include-

(i) reasons for occurrence of the problem; (ii) date of occurrence of the problem; and (iii) date of rectification of the problem.

3.10 submit the audit report to the Authority as per the Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulation 2023.

3.11 submit the action taken report to the Authority as per the Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulation 2023, on each audit observation containing therein the details of the action taken on audit observations, and such details shall include-

(i) reasons for occurrence of the problem; (ii) date of occurrence of the problem; (iii) date of rectification of the problem; (iv) action taken to address the problem; (v) number of subscribers affected and the total overcharged amount involved; (vi) number of such subscribers to whom refunds were made within time limit specified in the regulation and the total amount so refunded; and (vii) the number of the subscribers to whom refunds could not be made and total amount which could not be refunded; (viii) the number of the subscribers to whom refunds were made after the specified time limit and total amount so refunded; (ix) status of audit observations pending to be resolved from previous audits, in such format as the Authority may prescribe from time to time.

4 Guidelines for Auditors

4.1 The auditors shall undertake audit of the Billing system(s) of service provider before taking up the audit of the LSAs. The audit of LSAs shall be done only after completion of audit of its Billing System.

4.2 Based on Audit methodology, LSA audit activities may have two components i.e. (a) activities which may be conducted centrally after or along with the system audit of Billing System and (b) activities which require onsite visits to LSAs based on service providers’ network topology and operational setup. The Auditors may consider this aspect in overall audit activities schedule and communicate the same to the service providers clearly. The audit activities which can be conducted centrally for the LSAs should not be repeated in those LSAs.

5 Auditors’ Obligations:

5.1 The auditor shall undertake audit of the Metering and Billing System of service provider and certify that service providers’ Metering and Billing System is in compliance with the Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulation 2023 and guidelines/ direction(s) issued by the Authority from time to time. The auditor shall further take up audit of accuracy of metering and billing in License Service Area (LSA) as per the prescribed Audit Methodology.