Since Reliance Jio started its journey in the Telecom industry, it has been facing a lot of controversies, problems and remaining telecom providers opposed the move of Jio’s free offers, tariffs to the customers. They have also complained about this to the TRAI and Jio has withdrawn few of its offers after TRAI orders.
This made the remaining telecom providers in the country to offers more and attractive offers to let their users satisfy from switching to Jio. Telecom giants like Bharti Airtel, Idea, Vodafone and BSNL have offered few stunning offers to their existing customers. They are doing everything to the users from letting them not to switch to another network.
Now, Reliance Jio opposes customized offers by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. Jio alleged that some telcos are offering special tariff plans to select customers “under the garb of usage and retention,” adding that some of these offers were being communicated to consumers through 10-digit mobile numbers, in complete violation of the present regulatory framework. Jio has, in fact, urged the sector regulator to “take strict action against such operators” saying these “personalized offers” to some customers were not being “published publicly”.
But the market leader Bharti Airtel has strongly stated that existing regulations prescribed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are adequate to ensure transparency and enable customers to take informed decisions on services and protect their interests, a view also endorsed by the third-largest carrier, Idea Cellular. Bharti Airtel said, all telcos are “striving to attract customers through innovative offers,” and customers are perfectly free to switch from one operator to another using mobile number portability (MNP).
The telcos were responding to TRAI’s discussion paper to address loopholes in rules around knotty issues such as predatory pricing and promotional offers, which has already culminated in a fierce battle between Jio and the Big 3 of telecom – Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea – and has landed in court.
Vodafone India has expressed surprise over the timing and contents of TRAI’s discussion paper on tariffs-related regulation, saying most issues raised in the paper are litigation before the Delhi High Court and telecom tribunal, TDSAT, where the regulator and telcos are parties. “Almost all issues raised in the present consultation fall squarely within the ambit of pending sub-judice matters,” Vodafone India said its submission to TRAI.
However, in its latest submission to Trai, Sunil Mittal-led Airtel, however, said telcos “are going above and beyond the prescribed norms” by adopting several initiatives to enhance transparency. The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Auspi), the lobby body representing CDMA players like Sistema Shyam Teleservices and dual-tech players such as Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices, also does not see eye to eye with Jio on the lack of transparency in tariff offers.
“Apart from complying with different provisions of TRAI’s regulations, telecom service providers are also facilitating consumers through various apps, their websites and call centers to ensure they take informed decisions. Regular internal audits of the telcos and the M&B (metering & billing) audit done by Trai has also helped to ensure transparency in tariff offerings and advertisements,” Auspi said in its submission.