The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has expressed its concern over the increasing number of auto-play video ads on the Internet and has planned to take action against it to curb unwanted data surge.
According to several reports, TRAI chairman R S Sharma said that action would be taken against video-ads across all platforms – mobile phones and broadband connections – very soon.
Expressing his concern, Sharma said that involuntary download of video ads leads to higher rate of data consumption, leading to faster exhaustion of data packs, which is a ‘bad’.
It has to be noted that Internet data packs offered by telcos in India are expensive in comparison to other countries. This is one major reason why users have been showing their dissatisfaction towards auto-playing ads across the Internet.
In the past, many experts have explained that hidden data charges and downloads account for increased usage of Internet data despite not actively using the Internet for a long period of time.
Sharma also said that the officials at TRAI are already working to solve the issue but efforts need to be increased to resolve the setback.
Adding more substance to the issue, a survey conducted by online mobile app Nanu across 23 states in June reinforced the fact that customers face increasing risks of hidden data charges.
According to the survey, 42 per cent respondents were unaware of video-ads which consume data without even clicking. And 35 per cent said they had observed an increase in data billing without any increase in usage.
While there are mounting problems with the scenario of Internet penetration and delivery cost in India, the government has to take steps such as curbing hidden data costs and help customers save valuable data.
Industry experts fear that the advent of 4G internet ad other LTE services would make the issue of hidden costs even more serious, if not resolved now.
