The telecom regulator has introduced a portal for consumers to compare all available mobile phone tariffs across operators, which will be the first such platform to be backed by the government, as the regulator aims to bring more transparency on available plans The portal’s beta version shows regular tariffs, special tariff vouchers, promotional tariffs and value-added service packs among others, but only for the Delhi circle at the moment. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( Trai ) said that the portal that has been put for feedback from the public and stakeholders will eventually have information on all tariff plans for all circles.“As per TRAI act 1997, transparency is an important mandate of Trai. Presently, telecom service providers offer tariffs at their websites,” the authority said in a statement Monday.“For easy access, various tariff plans and other tariff instruments are provided at Trai web site in downloadable format. This platform would not only benefit the consumers but also help other stakeholders to do a comparative analysis,” it added.Trai secretary Sunil Gupta said that a time frame of 15 days has been given to consumers and stakeholders to respond to the look, feel and utility of the portal, after which the regulator will expand the service for other circles.“There are many tariffs that carriers offer but consumers are not able to see everything at one place, and there’s no method to compare tariffs. So, we have done this primarily for consumers, starting with Delhi. We want to see what more can be done on the site which is why consumer feedback has been sought,” he said.Gupta added that data on the site was also open to third party users, such as recharge or travel apps like Paytm, Cleartrip etc, who can download the data and use it for giving more consumer friendly outlook.When asked whether the move was another way to weed out segmented plans, which carriers offer to individual customers without sharing them publicly, the secretary denied, adding that the portal’s aim was not that.“This has nothing to do with segmented offers. All tariffs that have been filed with Trai will be on the portal,” he clarified.Trai has barred telcos from offering pricing packages to individual subscribers to retain them without offering all customers the same tariff plan, through two separate orders over last year, with one on predatory pricing that came out on February 16.India’s older operators have opposed Trai’s move to bar segmented offers to certain users, saying it limits their hand in trying to retain subscribers in an intensely competitive environment with new entrant Reliance Jio trying to shore up its over 175 million user base.