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TDSAT rejects Trai view that Jio

not the trigger for blocking rivals'
premium plans
The Telecom Dispute Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has rejected the
telecom regulator's plea to change its interim order to note that its probe into
Vodafone Idea and Airtel's certain premium plans was not triggered by rival telco
Reliance Jio's complaint.

Devina Sengupta ETTelecom Updated: August 04, 2020, 16:59 IST

        

Mumbai : The Telecom Dispute Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has
rejected the telecom regulator's plea to change its interim order to note that its
probe into Vodafone Idea and Airtel's certain premium plans was not triggered by
rival telco Reliance Jio's complaint.

In an application, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had said that the
appellate tribunal’s interim order staying the regulator’s ruling suspending
Vodafone Idea’s RedX and Airtel’s Platinum offers, “suffers from a mistake”. In its
ruling, TDSAT had said that Trai started the probe after getting a complaint from
Jio, but the regulator said it had started enquiries into the two plans on July 6
itself, and not after Jio’s letter of July 8.
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Tuesday, the TDSAT rejected
Trai’s contention, saying it was
its prima facie finding.

"TDSAT has held that the

statement recorded in para 4 is a
prima facie finding and it will not
affect the ongoing inquiry being
conducted by TRAI," according
to lawyers familiar with the
developments in the case. The
next hearing is on August 17.

Para 4 of the interim order read, "...it is clear that (Trai) inquiry has commenced on
the basis of a letter of the applicant (Jio) dated 08.07.2020. This is corroborated
by several materials including TRAI’s letter which is mentioned as a reference in
the impugned order also."

Read also
Trai sends further queries to Understanding access priority: A
Vodafone Idea, Airtel on premium premium tariff plan that Airtel,
plans Vodafone Idea wants to offer

The case started when TRAI suspended VIL’s RedX and Airtel’s Platinum offers till
completion of its inquiry on whether these premium plans offering priority network
access and faster speeds degrade the quality of services for customers on other
plans.

Both Airtel and VIL have dismissed Trai’s concerns about the RedX and Platinum
premium plans. Airtel has told TRAI that its Platinum service to only a minuscule
1-1.5% of its (user) base, who account for less than 10% of the telco’s revenue,
won't affect service quality for the rest, a fact that has been validated by network
checks.

VIL too has dismissed the regulator's grievances about its RedX offer, saying they
are not based on facts and that the 1.27 lakh RedX subscribers — not even 0.1%
of VIL’s 4G user base — can’t hurt services of customers on other plans.

Jio, which entered the battlefield as an impleadment party, had said in its letter to
TRAI and during TDSAT proceedings that no telco can guarantee faster speeds,
and that such claims by the incumbents were aimed at misleading consumers.