After constantly receiving complaints over billing fraud and other consumer grievances, the telecom watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to crack the whip on erring operators and has ordered an audit of all telecom operators for over billing and other violations.

The external panel of auditors is likely to check records of millions of consumers to check if they have been informed about tariff details for a particular service in writing within a week of activation. Billing samples will be audited to check the accuracy of measuring call durations.

The auditors will also check if the service provider has a documented process for identifying and investigating billing complaints. They will even check if appropriate records were created and steps taken to prevent similar problems in the future.