How to complain about poor mobile network, and get heard.

Before you complain

• Note which rooms, which times, and which network. Problems that come and go at busy hours point to congestion, not coverage.
• Read your signal in dBm in each room, and once outside for comparison.
• Rule out the phone and SIM: try the SIM in another phone.

Step 1: the operator's complaint centre

Call or use the operator's app and register a network complaint for your address. Always get a docket number. TRAI's guidance says complaints should generally be resolved within a few days. Airtel users can also report issues through Airtel's Open Network portal.

Step 2: the appellate authority

If the complaint isn't resolved, or you aren't satisfied with the result, you can appeal to the operator's appellate authority, generally within 30 days. Include your docket number and your readings. Contacts for each operator's appellate authority are listed on TRAI's complaint monitoring site.

What about TRAI?

TRAI regulates the operators but doesn't resolve individual complaints. Its consumer site lists the operator contacts you need for steps 1 and 2.

Make it specific

"Signal is bad" is easy to close. "Bedroom −112 dBm, living room −104 dBm, balcony −78 dBm on Airtel, measured on these dates" is not. A SignalCheck gives you a written room-by-room report you can attach. For a whole building, a joint complaint from the RWA with readings from several flats carries more weight. For RWAs.

The readings above are an example of the format, not real measurements.

Sources

1. TRAI: complaint redressal FAQ
2. TRAI TCCMS: telecom consumer complaint monitoring (operator contacts)
3. Airtel Open Network FAQ