On Friday Nov.20, Rs.19 has been fixed as porting charges (an amount, which is paid by subscriber to recipient operator) by TRAI. The number portability charges will be taken to avail mobile number portability facility (MNP facility), which was expected to be launched next year, i.e. in January 2010.  [smartads]

The TRAI said operators can freely charge any amount which could be below or equal to this specified charge of Rs. 19.

The MNP facility will permit a subscriber to maintain his same mobile number when he switches over from 1operator to another. The facility of withholding existing mobile telephone no. in spite of switching over to a different mobile service provider promotes competitiveness among the service providers & becomes a medium for the service providers to advance their service quality.

These MNP facility charges will come into action on Dec. 31, 2009.