Now, Idea Cellular moves to Delhi High Court challenging Trai’s penalty on Jio PoI issue

Follow Us

Idea Cellular, the country’s third largest telecom operator, has now approached the Delhi High Court against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendation to impose Rs 950 crore penalty on it for not providing adequate interconnection to 4G entrant Reliance Jio.

mobile-tower-india




Idea Cellular, in its plea, claimed that it has complied with all requirements of providing interconnectivity as per the quality of service (QoS) rules and as such is not liable to any penalty.

The telecom operator also stated that as on January 19, it has allocated 19,175 points of interconnection to Reliance Jio and attributed the congestion and call failures as result of Jio's gross underestimation of call volumes, due to its free voice-calling offer.

The telecom department however claimed that the Aditya Birla Group Company’s petition is not maintainable as the Trai had only given a recommendation, according to various media reports.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, who appeared for the department of telecom (DoT) on Tuesday at the Delhi High Court, opposed Idea’s plea, on grounds that it was premature since no action had been taken yet on the telecom regulator's October 21, 2016 recommendation.

The High Court bench has now reportedly issued notices to both the Trai and the DoT asking them to file affidavits on the issue of maintainability of Idea's plea before the next date of hearing on February 21.

Idea Cellular’s bigger rival Vodafone India has already moved the High Court by filing a similar petition against a Rs 1,050-crore recommendation on the same grounds. The petition is currently pending before another bench of the court.

The telecom department (DoT) and the Trai have already contended that Vodafone’s plea was not maintainable.
The telecom regulator had on October 21, 2016 had recommended a total Rs 3,050 crore penalty against the three service providers, including Rs 1,050-crore penalty against Bharti Airtel for failing to provide adequate interconnection to Reliance Jio.

Also read: Reliance Jio PoI issue: Delhi HC denies to stay TRAI’s Rs. 1050 crore penalty imposed on Vodafone: Report

The telecom department had on January 12 received confirmation from the Attorney General's office that the imposition of such a penalty was legal and within the scope of the law.

Recent Comments

shivraj roy :

literally living in 2012 lol 1 city per month

Vodafone Idea Launches 5G Services in Mysuru

SANTHARAM K :

One line news was made one page news...

Bharti Airtel Brings New Rs 189 Prepaid Plan

Faraz :

I think these speeds are locked

BSNL has Installed 94500 4G Towers Across India

Riju vv :

I am not able to see the 5G coverage in Mysore in their coverage map. But I can see 5G…

Vodafone Idea Launches 5G Services in Mysuru

Faraz :

Many have started using BSNL for data, and that number is around 29 million.

Vodafone Idea Is Quietly Fixing a Problem That Affects Millions…

Load More
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
8 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments