Tata Teleservices may shut down soon: A guide to use MNP to port your number

Key Highlights

• Tata Teleservices net addition of subscribes has been negative since February 2016.
• It was rumoured to merge with a few telecom operators however none of the deals have followed through.
• N Chandrasekaran said he will take a ‘tough call’ about Tata Teleservices this fiscal.

Tata Group may soon shut down its 21-year old Tata Teleservices Ltd business on the back of burgeoning competition in the sector. 

Media reports cited the company approaching the government last week to shut its wireless business. A report by Economic Time on October 7 said Tata Teleservices wanted to ‘informally inform’ that the company was in the process of shutting down to write off losses.

“Kindly note that Tata Teleservices continues to explore all options in respect of its business given the challenging business environment in the telecom industry,” Tata Teleservices said in a BSE filing on October 4.

“We have no comments to offer,” said Tata Sons spokesperson when asked about the company’s plans to exit the business and its existing subscriber base.

“At this stage, Tata Teleservices has not made any firm decision on the way forward for its telecom business,” the company added in the BSE filing.

The company has nearly 4.2 crore wireless subscribers, as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data till July 31. Nearly 84% of the company's subscribers were active in that month, the data showed.

However the company has been losing subscribers since February 2016. In July alone the company lost 16,08,944 subscribers.

In January 2016, the company's net addition of subscribers stood at 75,654. 

What happens to the existing subscribers now?

The subscribers will have the option to switch to another mobile network if Tata Teleservices confirms its shut down this month.

How to avail of MNP?

I. Contact the new mobile service provider to whom you want to port your mobile number.

II. Obtain Customer Acquisition Form (CAF) & Porting Form.

III. Read the eligibility and other conditions carefully.

IV. If eligible, Obtain 'Unique Porting Code' by sending an SMS from the mobile number you want to port to the number '1900' with text 'PORT' followed by space followed by your 10 digit mobile number you want to port. [As pre-paid SMS is not permitted, in Jammu & Kashmir the subscriber has to dial '1900' to get an UPC, the operator at '1900' provide the UPC after verifying subscriber number with CLI. 1

V. It may be noted that you will receive an auto generated 8 digits Unique Porting Code (UPC) from the Donor operator. The first two characters of the UPC consists of 'Alphabets' and remaining 6 digits will be numerical characters except zero.

VI. Fill up the CAF and Porting Form.

VII. Submit the duly filled Porting Form and CAF along with requisite documentary proof to the mobile service provider.

VIII. If you are a post paid subscriber, submit a paid copy of the last bill issued along with Porting Form and CAF.

IX. Obtain new SIM card from the new service provider

X. Service provider may charge porting charge maximum upto j- 19/-

You can withdraw your porting request within 24 hrs of applying. However, the porting charge may not be refunded, TRAI said.