COAI to Not Make Peace With Reliance Jio Over Defamation Lawsuit: Rajan Mathews

After a series of allegations by Reliance Jio, the Cellular Operators Association of India has ruled out the chances of making an apology to Reliance Jio post the Mukesh Ambani led telco filed a defamation suit in court against the industry body. COAI Director General, Rajan Mathews, who was also alleged by the telco said “COAI will not apologise because nothing that was said was defamatory. We are studying all the documents and will counter each of their points in court.” The legal counsels for COAI are exploring their options to counter the allegations made by Reliance Jio. However, a person aware of the ongoings said that a counter lawsuit against Reliance Jio was rather unlikely given the present situation. Apparently, next hearing of the Reliance Jio suit is scheduled to be on August 24.

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The matter spurted into a full fervour when Reliance Jio alleged the association along with its DG saying that the industry body tried to put obstruction while Jio was entering into the market. The telco also said that the association also interfered with the growth of the company by advancing the interests of other members of the COAI. The other members which Reliance Jio might be referring to can be Idea Cellular, Vodafone India and Bharti Airtel which make up for around 60% of the total subscriber base in India.

This is not the first time that the matter has come into light. For quite some time now both the parties have been on polar ends regarding the issue with Rajan Mathews, the COAI DG claiming that the association speaks for the industry and not over individual interests. The matter sparked into a fire when Reliance Jio filed a defamation lawsuit against COAI and Rajan Mathews when both the association and DG said that the telecom regulator favoured Reliance Jio over other incumbent telcos.