The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced new MNP (mobile number portability) rules that it believes will significantly cut down on the time taken to move from one operator to another. According to an official memo published by the regulator, the amended rules will make the process fast and more convenient for mobile subscribers in the country.
As part of the plan, the portability service provider will now manage the port-out request and not the mobile services operator. According to TRAI, the entire porting process now will be completed within 3 days for users porting within their own circle, instead of the 5 days it used to take earlier. Time taken for inter-circle portability will also reduce significantly and will now be completed within 5 days.
Do note that the carriers will have to update their backend infrastructure to comply with the new regulations, which means the MNP facility will not be available from December 10 to December 15. However, the requests that have already been submitted will remain valid and will continue to be processed during this time. The revised MNP regulations will come into force from December 16th.
The attempt to cut down on the time taken to port from one operator to another is definitely a welcome move from TRAI. The process, as it stands today, is a major hassle for users, which is why most decide to give the process a miss and get a new number instead. However, it remains to be seen if the changes will, indeed, have the desired result and help people port their mobile numbers relatively faster.
