TRAI's fine On Jio Rivals placed before Technical Panel

The Telecom Ministry reported that it is eyeing the option of setting up a technical committee in order to examine the Rs 3,050 crore fine imposed by regulator, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), on existing telecom carriers after holding them responsible for call failures.

TRAI had accused major players of stifling competition by denying points of interconnect and gateways to Jio. These points permit one network to continuously connect to another. Sending a tough message to incumbent carriers, TRAI imposed a penalty of Rs 50 crore per telecom circle. 

The combined fine amount works out to Rs 3,050 crore for Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. When there is a technical committee, there will also be a hearing where existing companies can file their case.

The Telecom Ministry will also opt for a round table conference of Telecom CEOs on November 11 in order to discuss all the issues in relation to the sector, including the TRAI penalty.

Existing carriers have not given their view on the TRAI developments but sources say that the matter could be brought before the court if the Telecom Ministry goes ahead. In the last two months, Reliance Jio had complained to TRAI as well as to the Prime Minister's Office and the Telecom Ministry that the telecom companies were not cooperating with them.

Reliance Industries (Reliance share price trading at Rs. 1060.60) had suggested that 52 cr calls on the Jio network failed daily because other networks didn't supply them enough number of POIs for voice calls. The biggest bone of contention between existing players which includes Airtel, Vodafone and Idea is that Jio is offering free voice calls to its customers for a lifetime. This, according to the incumbent operators was a form of predatory pricing. Nonetheless, the TRAI didn't agree with this argument and ruled in Jio's favor.