TDSAT Reserves Order On Premium Tariff; Verdict On Plans Expected Today

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal on Thursday reserved its order to stay the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai’s) decision to halt tariff plans by Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, which the regulator said were discriminatory in nature.

Trai in its submission attached the consultation paper on broadband speeds, copy of standard of quality of service for the wireless data service regulations and copies of comments from Vodafone Idea and Airtel, besides other documents.

Jio, on whose complaint, Trai restrained Vodafone Idea and Airtel from marketing their premium plans, filed an application with TDSAT. The verdict is likely on Friday.

In the tariff plan case, the bone of contention between two telecom firms pertains to Vodafone’s RedX plan, which was launched last November.

Customers were offered unlimited local and STD calls, unlimited data, up to 50 per cent higher data speed, premier customer service and Netflix subscription. As of June, about 127,000 subscribers availed of the RedX plan.

While Jio has termed the premium data plan as discriminatory, Vodafone has called the complaint unsubstantiated and vague.

In its application in TDSAT, Jio said it would be directly affected by the outcome of Vodafone’s appeal. It further said that outcome would impact the manner in which it conducts its business as it would impact fair competition and would be determinative of the tariff plans that the applicant as well as its competitors can validly offer.

In its appeal, Vodafone Idea has listed chronology of events leading to suspension of its RedX plan. On July 8, Jio complained to Trai about Vodafone's RedX scheme. On July 9, Trai informed Vodafone about the complaint and the next day sought details of the plan. On July 11, Trai asked the company to withhold the plan, it said.

Jio in its complaint to Trai said the premium data offers were fraught with issues and could be in non-compliance of regulatory oversight. Among other things, it said that no operator can give a guarantee to any customer for any minimum speed.

Vodafone Idea said Jio's allegations were aimed to disturb its smooth functioning.

While seeking a stay on the Trai order, Vodafone Idea said the regulator acted in haste without hearing its views. The Trai order is arbitrary and illegal and amounts to pre-judging the issue, it said.

The RedX scheme was launched in November 2019 and has been in operation for the past eight months and during this period Trai never raised an issue regarding the plan being non-compliant, Vodafone Idea said.