 "Uninor kickstarts MNP process for subscribers")
In an important development over the weekend, Uninor has started offering Mobile Number Portability codes to its subscribers in Mumbai. Uninor was in dialogue with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) since early last week for a directive allowing the company to offer MNP facilities to its customers in Mumbai. The directive is finally out, leading to the latest development.
The company also started refunding users’ account balance at stores in Mumbai on Thursday, February 21. As of Sunday, Uninor claims to have disbursed around Rs 4 lakh in refunds. The company states that this initiative is now being publicly announced and scaled up.
The stores in Mumbai offering refunds are located in Kalyan West, Dombivali East, Nerul (Navi Mumbai), Kurla East, Vashi, Mira Road, Andheri East, Dadar East, Malad East, Borivali West, Thana and Dharavi-Sion.
Uninor shut shop in Mumbai on February 16, thanks to an order by the Supreme Court directing operators who did not win spectrum in the previous auctions to end operations immediately.
Uninor secures a nod from TRAI (Image credit: Getty Images)
According to a press communiqué, Uninor has deployed its entire Mumbai staff and has moved resources from each of its operating circles across India and the corporate headquarters to manage and carry out the refund process in Mumbai.
“We have been requesting the TRAI to allow number portability for our Mumbai customers. We are thankful to the regulator for accepting our request. Since we had already put the entire process in place while awaiting approvals for launch, Uninor can start providing MNP codes to customers immediately,” said Sigve Brekke, Managing Director of Uninor.
Refunds will be available at 12 Uninor company and franchisee stores for a period of 15 days. The company says the number of stores will be doubled and the time period extended, should the need arise. Uninor will also incentivise its franchisees for each successful refund.
The company asks its subscribers to carry their Uninor SIM cards and an identity proof of the person receiving the claim. Uninor will verify the unutilised balance on the SIM and pay out cash refunds on the spot.
Also, MNP port out services will be available exclusively from the help line number 9175091750 and does not need customers to visit the stores. Port-out codes will be provided to customers over the same call.
As announced earlier, Uninor’s services are continuing uninterrupted in the six circles of Maharashtra and Goa, Gujarat, UP East, UP West, Bihar and Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. The company has managed to secure fresh spectrum for 20 years in these circles.
The operators who had been asked to close down services immediately were provided with temporary licenses so that services could be closed down in an orderly manner and customers are able to port out. “Uninor is bound by law to comply with the order of the Honourable Supreme Court and will therefore have to close down its mobile network immediately,” the company said.
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