Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability (Ninth Amendment) Regulations, 2024

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART III, SECTION 4

TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 14th March, 2024

TELECOMMUNICATION MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY (NINTH AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2024 (1 of 2024)

No. RG-18/(6)/2023-NSL-II ---- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 36, read with sub-clauses (i), (iii) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations to further amend the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2009 (8 of 2009), namely:-

1. (1) These regulations may be called the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability (Ninth Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (1 of 2024).

(2) These regulations shall come into force from the 1st July, 2024.

2. In regulation 2 of the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2009 (8 of 2009) (hereinafter referred to as “principal regulations”), after clause (r), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

“(ra) “SIM swap or replacement” means a process of acquisition of a new SIM card in place of a lost or non-working SIM card by the existing subscriber;”.

3. In regulation 6 of the principal regulations, after para (h) of the first proviso, the following para shall be inserted, namely:-

“(i) a period of seven days has expired from the date of SIM swap or replacement of the mobile number.”.

4. In regulation 6A of the principal regulations:-

(a) in sub-regulation (3), after clause (g) the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

“(h) the request for unique porting code has been made before the expiry of seven days from the date of SIM swap or replacement of the mobile number.”;

(b) in sub-regulation (6), for the words, brackets and number “clauses (b) to (g) of sub-regulation (3)” the words, brackets and number, “clauses (b) to (h) of sub-regulation (3)” shall be substituted;

(c) in sub-regulation (8), for the words, brackets and numbers, “clauses (b) to (g), provided under sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” the words, brackets and numbers, “clauses (b) to (h) of sub-regulation (3)” shall be substituted.

5. In regulation 9 of the principal regulations:-

(a) in sub-regulation (3), for the words, brackets and numbers, “conditions (a) to (g) contained in sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” the words, brackets and numbers, “conditions contained under clauses (a) to (h) of sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” shall be substituted;

(b) in sub-regulation (4), for the words, brackets and numbers, “in clauses (b) to (g) of sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” the words, brackets and numbers, “under clauses (b) to (h) of sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” shall be substituted;

(c) in sub-regulation (6), for the words, brackets and numbers, “in clause (b) to (g) of sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” the words, brackets and numbers, “under clauses (b) to (h) of sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” shall be substituted.

6. In regulation 10 of the principal regulations, in sub-regulation (1), for the words, brackets and numbers, “clauses (a) to (g) under sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” the words, brackets and numbers, “clauses (a) to (h) of sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6A” shall be substituted.

(V. Raghunandan) Secretary

Note 1: The principal regulations were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, part III, section 4 vide notification No. 116-4/2009-MN (Vol. II) dated 23rd September 2009 and amended vide:

(i) Notification No. 116-1/2010 dated 28th January, 2010 (1 of 2010) (ii) Notification No. 116-1/2010 dated 24th November, 2010 (5 of 2010) (iii) Notification No. 116-5/2012 dated 8th June, 2012 (16 of 2012) (iv) Notification No. 116-5/2012 dated 19th September, 2012 (19 of 2012) (v) Notification No. 116-4/2013 dated 22nd July, 2013 (9 of 2013) (vi) Notification No. 116-19/2014 dated 25th February, 2015 (03 of 2015) (vii) Notification No. 116-6/2017-NSL-II dated 13th December, 2018 (9 of 2018) (viii) Notification No. 116-4/2019-NSL-II dated 30th September, 2019 (5 of 2019)

Note 2: The Explanatory Memorandum explains the objects and reasons of these regulations.

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. ‘Mobile Number Portability’ is the facility which allows a subscriber to retain his mobile number when he moves from one access provider to another access provider in the country.

2. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (hereinafter, also referred to as, “TRAI, or “the Authority”) issued the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2009 (8 of 2009) dated 23.09.2009 laying down the basic business process framework for implementation of intra-circle Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the country. MNP facility was launched in Haryana licensed service area (LSA) on 25.11.2010 on pilot basis. On 20.01.2011, it was extended to the entire country. Initially, the MNP facility was available within the licensed service area only. However, in accordance with the provisions contained in the National Telecom Policy-2012 regarding “One Nation-Full Mobile Number Portability”, full MNP facility was implemented w.e.f. 03.07.2015.

3. With a view to improving the MNP process from time to time, the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2009 have been amended eight times in the past.

4. Based on the suggestions received from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, Government of India, TRAI issued Draft Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability (Ninth Amendment) Regulations, 2023 dated 27.09.2023 (hereinafter, referred to as “the draft amendment regulations dated 27.09.2023 for consultation”), soliciting comments from stakeholders on the issues raised therein. Stakeholders were requested to furnish their comments by 25.10.2023. On request of a few stakeholders, the last date for furnishing comments was extended to 08.11.2023. The Authority received comments from 13 stakeholders. The comments are available on the Authority’s website www.trai.gov.in. An open house discussion (OHD) on the draft amendment regulations dated 27.09.2023 for consultation was conducted on 22.02.2024, through virtual mode.

5. Based on the inputs received from stakeholders and its own analysis, the Authority has finalized the ninth amendment to the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2009. The following sections provide an explanation of the amendments made in the regulations.

A. Suitability of introducing an additional criterion for rejection of the request for allocation of UPC

6. The regulation 6A of the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulations, 2009 (“principal regulations”) provides, inter-alia, as below:

“6A. Process to be performed by Mobile Number Portability Service provider before allocating unique porting code.—

(1) Upon receipt of the request for unique porting code, the concerned Mobile Number Portability Service provider shall check the following conditions from its database whether:-

(a) the mobile number has been ported earlier and, if so, a period of ninety days has not elapsed from the date of its last porting; (b) porting request is already in process for the same mobile number; and (c) unique porting code has already been issued and not expired yet.

(2) Where Mobile Number Portability Service provider finds that the clause (a) or (b) or (c) mentioned in sub-regulation (1) are applicable, the Mobile Number Portability Service provider shall not generate unique porting code and shall communicate the reason of non-generation of unique porting code to the subscriber through SMS.

(3) Where Mobile Number Portability Service provider finds that the clause (a) and (b) and (c) mentioned in sub-regulation (1) are not applicable, it shall check immediately on real time basis from the database of Donor Operator whether:-