TRAI wants Jio rivals to pay Rs. 3,050 crore fine

Airtel, Vodafone, Idea fined for denial of interconnection to Jio.

A customer selects his number of Reliance Jio Infocomm 4G mobile services in Mumbai on September 6, 2016 India's richest man Mukesh Ambani has announced that his Reliance Industries' long-awaited 4G mobile services would finally launch in September 2016, sending shares of rival Bharti Airtel plummeting almost seven percent. / AFP PHOTO / INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommended a hefty penalty of Rs. 3,050 crore on top three telcos – Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, for violating their license agreement and denial of interconnection to new player Reliance Jio.

In similar letters to the three operators, the authority said it is evident that Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, are “in non-compliance of the terms and conditions of license and denial of Interconnection to RJIL appears to be with ulterior motive to stifle competition and is anti-consumer”.

This development comes on the back of a prolonged battle between the Mukesh Ambani group’s new telecom venture Jio and these incumbent operators, with the former alleging that its subscribers were unable to make calls to other networks as other operators were not providing adequate inter connection points.

Stating that the act of Idea, Airtel and Vodafone is against public interest, the authority said non-compliance of terms and conditions of the telecom licence warrants a recommendation for the revocation of the licence.

“However, the Authority is mindful of the fact that revocation of the license will entail significant consumer inconvenience and therefore in view of the larger public interest involved, the Authority recommends a penal action of Rs. 50 crore per LSA... where point of interconnect congestion exceeded the allowable limit of 0.5 per cent.”

While the recommended fine for Airtel and Vodafone amounts to Rs. 1,050 crore for 21 service areas (all, expect Jammu and Kashmir), for Idea the penalty has been suggested for 19 service areas (all, except for Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern States) at Rs 950 crore.