MTNL Fined ₹10 Lakh by Telecom Regulator TRAI for QoS Violations

New Delhi, February 2, 2026: State-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has been penalized by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) with a total financial disincentive of ₹10 lakh for failing to meet mandated Quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks. The company disclosed this regulatory action to the stock exchanges on Monday.

Breakdown of the Penalty

MTNL received two separate orders from TRAI, both dated February 2, 2026:

₹4,00,000 Penalty: For contraventions related to Access Service (Wireless) for the month of May 2025.
₹6,00,000 Penalty: For contraventions related to Access Service (Wireline) for the quarter ending June 2025.

The penalties were imposed under the Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wireline and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024.

Key Reasons for the Penalty

For the Wireless Service Penalty (May 2025):

Call Set-up Success Rate: MTNL reported an Intra-service provider Call Set-Up Success Rate (CSSR) of just 71.81% against a benchmark of ≥98% for its Delhi service area. The company cited "technical constraints" in its 3G performance system for the failure, but TRAI found the explanation unsatisfactory.
Faulty Coverage Maps: TRAI found that the geospatial coverage map links provided by MTNL on its website were either non-functional or did not display the required information, despite the company claiming 100% compliance in its report.

For the Wireline Service Penalty (Q June 2025):
The penalty for MTNL's Mumbai service area was due to failures across six critical service parameters:

Provisioning Delay: Only 85.59% of services were provided within 7 days of payment (vs. ≥98% benchmark).
Fault Repair: Merely 50.10% of faults were repaired by the next working day (vs. ≥85% benchmark).
Extended Fault Repair: Only 59.60% of faults were repaired within three working days (vs. ≥99% benchmark).
Mean Time to Repair (MTTR): Clocked in at 131.24 hours, drastically exceeding the ≤10 hours benchmark.
Service Termination Delays: Achieved 99.47% in closing services within 7 days (vs. 100% benchmark).
Refund Delays: Only 83.64% of deposits were refunded within 45 days (vs. 100% benchmark).

MTNL's explanations, which included issues like road construction damaging cables, delays in getting permissions to enter sensitive areas (like BARC), and customer-related problems, were rejected by TRAI. The regulator stated that network maintenance and meeting benchmarks are the "responsibility of the TSP [Telecom Service Provider]."

Company's Stance and Compliance

In its regulatory filing (Ref: MTNL/SECTT/SE/2026), signed by Company Secretary Shri Ratan Mani Sumit, MTNL stated that there is "no material impact on the Financial, Operation or other activities of MTNL" due to these penalties.

The company has been directed to pay the amount within 21 days, failing which interest will be levied as per TRAI regulations.

Stock Market Details

Scrip Code (BSE): 500108
Symbol (NSE): MTNL
CIN: L32101DL1986GOI023501

Background

MTNL, a government-owned enterprise, provides telecom services in the metro cities of Mumbai and Delhi. The company has been grappling with financial stress and intense competition in the telecom sector for several years. This penalty highlights ongoing challenges in maintaining service quality standards.