Trai completes mandatory examination of recent industry-wide tariff hikes

The telcos have submitted details of the hike within the stipulated seven days

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRA) has finished its mandatory examination of the latest bout of industry-wide tariff hikes, and has concluded they are fair and non-predatory in nature, officials said. 

The three private sector telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) had raised tariffs in the first week of July.

As mandated, the telecom operators had submitted details of the hike within the stipulated seven days with the regulator, and these were not found to be discriminatory or predator in nature, they added. 

The Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO), 1999, mandates that the service providers have to report any new tariff for telecom services or any change to the regulator within seven working days from the date of implementation. 

These tariffs are then examined for their compliance with the regulatory principles which include, the principles of transparency, non-predation and non-discrimination.

“The tariffs did not violate any of these principles,” an official said.  

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea had announced a hike in mobile tariffs by up to 21 per cent, just a day after market leader Reliance Jio implemented an across-the-board hike in tariffs.

While Airtel has raised tariffs by a lesser margin than Jio’s 12-25 per cent, it includes Airtel’s 2G subscriber base as well, a category Jio hasn’t touched. Vi has also focussed the most on unlimited data plans, spanning validity periods from 28 days to one year.

Officials also pointed out that the regulator’s decision was shaped by the fact that telecom tariffs in India remain among the lowest in the world.

Earlier this week, the Department of Telecommunications pointed out that there was adequate competition in the market with at least four service providers offering competitive plans.

It was responding to multiple queries in Parliament over the government’s ability to maintain a competitive environment in the mobile telephony sector.