TRAI recommends Rs 3050 crore penalty on Airtel, Vodafone & Idea

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in October 2016 recommended imposition of 3050 crore rupees penalty on Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea cellular. The penalty was imposed for allegedly denying interconnectivity to newcomer Reliance Jio.

TRAI, in its recommendation to the Department of Telecom, said it has found the three companies to be non-compliant with licence conditions regarding giving interconnection to Reliance Jio customers.

Detail of Penalties recommended

• Airtel: Penalty amounts to 1050 crore rupees for 21 service areas (all, except Jammu and Kashmir)

• Vodafone: Penalty amounts to 1050 crore rupees for 21 service areas (all, except Jammu and Kashmir)

• Idea: Penalty amounts to 950 crore rupees for 19 service areas (all, except Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and North-eastern States)

It also noted that denial of interconnection by these operators to Reliance Jio appears to be with the ulterior motive to stifle competition and is anti-consumer.

The recommendation came on complaint by Reliance Jio that over 75 percent of calls on its network are failing as incumbents were not giving sufficient points of interconnect that would help complete calls.