Telecom watchdog TRAI on Thursday directed mobile operator Vodafone to refund the charges it had levied on its customers for value added services without their explicit consent.
In a statement, TRAI asked Vodafone Essar to refund the charges within fifteen days, to the users for value added services in all cases where it provided, without their explicit consent.
TRAI said it has received complaints from the subscribers of Vodafone regarding provision of value added services without consent. The regulator has been in correspondence with the company in these matters and it has admitted technical error.
To protect the interests of consumers, TRAI has directed Vodafone to refund the charges in all cases of the same.
These services include cases where subscribers denied or disputed having given their consent for activation of such value added services or for continuation of such services which were initially offered free of charge.