Pan-India Mobile Number Portability from May 3

New Delhi: Telecom regulator Trai said on Wednesday that government intends to implement the full mobile number portability from May 3. Full mobile number portability will allow consumers to retain their mobile number even if they shift from one state to another. “On November 3, the department  of telecom (DoT) has issued amendments to the MNP license agreement. As per the DoT, the full MNP is to be implemented in the country within a period of six months from the date of amendment to the licences that is May 3 2015,” said Trai.

Currently mobile number portability is restricted within a service area. This means that presently subscribers can only change between operators within a service area. After full mobile number portability gets implement a subscribers will be able to change to another operator in other states also. Consumers have also been using the facility of partial number portability to change operators.
Trai on Wednesday issued amendments to MNP regulations for the  roll out of full mobile number portability.

In order to effectively utilise the numbering resources, provision has been made to reduce the time period for a  disconnected ported mobile number to return to the original service providers (to whom the number belongs) in 60 days time instead of 90 days prescribed earlier. In case a post-paid subscribers defaults on bill payment, the old operators will have to give notice within 30 days. After 60 days from the due date of payment of outstanding bill, the operators will not be entitled to ask the new operators to which subscriber has shifted to disconnect his or her number.   

It was on 20 January 2011 that mobile number portability was launched nation-wide by the then Prime minister Manmohan Singh. Dr Singh had launched the service in the country by making inaugural call to the then telecom minister Kapil Sibal from a ported number. Meanwhile, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said that Trai has levied a financial disincentive of Rs 9.44 crore on mobile operators for violations regarding MNP.