Jio asks TRAI to take strong action against Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea for violating rules

It seems like allegations and counter allegations have become favorite words in the telecom industry. We say this as Reliance Jio has asked Telecom Regulator Authority of India (TRAI) to take action against incumbent operators as they are using "unfair and deceptive" methods to influence customers who wish to port out of their network.

Jio has sent a letter to telecom regulator asking it to take "strongest action" against the three operators - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular - and to recommend "highest penalty" for what it terms is gross violation of the license norms, telecom tariff orders and mobile number portability (MNP) guidelines, PTI reported.

The company has mentioned in a letter that these operators are providing special tariff plans and discounts to influence customers who wish to port out of their network.

Jio also said that these offers are being presented to subscribers "surreptitiously" on a one-to-one basis and that the same offers are not available to the public.

At the outset, we submit that as far as these MNP offers are concerned, these are in gross violation of extant telecom laws including Telecom Tariff Order, 1999," Jio said.

However, Airtel has dismissed the allegations.

The letter also said the call centers of these operators are providing "false and malicious" information to subscribers regarding the service quality and network coverage of the new operator.

"The call centre recordings reveal a vicious campaign underway to defame and vilify the services being offered by Reliance Jio," it alleged.

Reliance Jio has urged Trai to "take cognizance of the vilification and defamation campaign underway against RJIL" by the operators, and direct them to "cease and desist" from such tactics, agency further reported.

Meanwhile, Reliance jio has recently announced its new offer Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan under which it offers 1GB data per day at 4G speeds for 84 days for Rs309.

The plans start at the most affordable Rs. 309 all unlimited plan, which provides unlimited SMS, calling and data for three months on the first recharge.

The firm also announced a Rs. 509 unlimited plan for customers with high data usage offering unlimited SMS, calling and data (2GB a day at 4G speeds) for three months on the first recharge.