TRAI may review Rs 3,050 crore penalty on Airtel and Vodafone Idea

The Digital Communications Commission (erstwhile Telecom Commission) has asked TRAI to review the Rs 3,050 crore penalty on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for not providing points of interconnection (PoIs) to Reliance Jio in 2016.
TRAI chairman
The Commission has agreed to impose penalty on Airtel and Vodafone Idea for not providing PoIs to Reliance Jio. It has written to TRAI, asking it to review the quantum of the penalty, BusinessLine reported.

Indian telecom regulator has received the notification from the digital commission and will take a final decision on the amount shortly.

TRAI, in October 2016, recommended imposing penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea for allegedly denying interconnectivity to Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Jio.

Jio said that over 75 percent of calls on its network were failing, as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea were not releasing sufficient number of PoIs. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had denied the charge, saying RJio’s systems were not in place to begin with.

Airtel and Vodafone need to pay about Rs 1,050 crore each, while Idea Cellular needs to pay around Rs 950 crore.