Facing a threat from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, established players like Airtel and Vodafone recently complained to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India citing “predatory pricing” by Jio. Trai, however, says they are not stopping anyone from competing from with Jio. Airtel, Idea and Vodafone are free to lower tariffs as much as they want to match or challenge Jio’s aggressive pricing in their dominant circles, a couple of officials two to Livemint requesting anonymity.

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Besides, Trai added if anyone has a problem with their predatory pricing definition, they are free to approach the court. The latest tirade against Jio began after Trai issued a new notification on February 16 as to what constitutes predatory pricing.

Under these new rules, a tariff will be considered predatory in a “relevant market”, if any dominant player or SMP (Significant Market Player) offers services at a price which is below the average “variable cost” with a view to reduce competition or eliminate competition in the “relevant market”.

If the tariff is found predatory, an operator will be liable to pay a penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh per tariff plan per telecom circle.

Trai defined SMP as a telecom operator holding a share of at least 30 percent of total activity in a particular market. For example, Vodafone-Idea is SMP in 12 circles, and Airtel is in 9 according to the subscriber base, while based on revenues, Vodafone is SMP in 13 circles, and Airtel is in 15.