India's Supreme Court says no to compensation for call drops

In a big setback for consumers, India's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that mobile users can't claim compensation from cell phone operators for call drops.

A call drop is a sudden interruption of a phone call that leaves mobile users babbling for few seconds before they realise that the call has been disconnected.

The court gave the order while quashing the directive of India's telecom regulator that had asked in October last year that customers will have to be compensated by telecom operators for call drops.

The apex court judges termed the order of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India as arbitrary, unreasonable and non-transparent.

In fact, the telecom authority had said that customers should get one Indian rupee per dropped call and a maximum of three rupees a day.

The telecom operators had challenged the telecom authority's order in the Delhi High Court but lost the case there, before finally emerging successful this morning.

They argued before the top court that the telecom authority's order was unfair because connectivity is affected by factors beyond their control.

The Indian government has said that it would properly study the court order.

"We will examine the judgment. The government will look into the matter," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Endit