On December 3, 2019, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), a statutory body set up by the Government of India (GoI),has changed the rules related to Mobile Number Portability (MNP) by making the whole MNP service time-saving and easier than before.
TRAI has prescribed the port facility in the service area within 3 days. At the same time, 5 days time has been fixed for getting ported out of service area. The new rules will come into effect from December 16, 2019 . This means, it will be mandatory for companies to provide MNP facility within three days of application from December 16. But, as per the current rules, companies are given 15 days from the date of application for this.
Key Points:
i.In addition, the validity of the Unique Porting Code (UPC), an eight-digit alphanumeric number, has also been reduced to 4 days as against the fortnight earlier. It will be applicable to all circles except the areas of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), Assam and North East (NE), where the validity of the UPC code remains unchanged to 30 days.
ii.According to the current regulations, the port facility will continue till December 9,2019. This service will be discontinued from 10 – 15 December,2019. This is being done because operators and MNP providers will make changes in their systems, software etc. under the new rules.
iii.This decision of TRAI has brought great relief to those customers who are thinking of getting their number ported.
About MNP:
It enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network carrier to another.
About UPC:
It is a code that mobile users receive from current mobile operator. This code will be used to switch mobile network or provider to a new one without changing the mobile number.
About TRAI:
Formed– 20 February 1997
Headquarters– New Delhi
Chairman– Ram Sewak Sharma
