After war of words with Airtel and Idea, it is time to indulge in a fight with Vodafone. Yes, since the time Jio is introduced, it is facing many challenges; this time it was Vodafone’s turn.
The major telecom giant dragged Reliance Jio to court and stated that it violated the orders of TRAI tariff, by offering free voice calling.
This case was being heard by Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva; Vodafone said,
“Inter-connection usage charges (IUC) form the floor price as per tariff orders of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and “one cannot go below that”.
Vodafone continued that by offering free voice calling and continuing the offer beyond 3 months i.e. 90 days, the regulations and norms of IUC and TRAI are being violated.
The company was also pissed off with TRAI, since it has given a green signal to this offer.
On this, Jio said that if Vodafone is dissatisfied with TRAI on allowing the continuation of free offer, the matter should be challenged before TDSAT, just as Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel did.
As of now, the court has given the date of 27th of February; arguments of Vodafone about TRAI not taking action in spite of Jio violating the regulations and orders will be heard then.
During this hearing, Vodafone argued that free voice calling offers can be offered only if they have compliance with IUC floor price. On this, the court counter questioned what if customers opt only for free plans.
Vodafone replied that the service providers should design such plans in which even the customer can avail the benefits and at the same time, even operating costs are recovered.
Let’s see what decision is taken on the 27th of February; what’s your take on this? Do share your views in our comments section below.
