Look into predatory pricing: Airtel tells Trai

At a time when mobile tariffs are touching the lowest levels, the market leader Bharti Airtel sought on Thursday Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's intervention to ensure that players do not resort to predatory pricing practices to woo subscribers.

"The Trai should look at predatory pricing," Bharti Airtel CEO Manoj Kohli told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

With a view to retain and add new subscribers, the mobile operators have started offering tariffs as low as half-a-paisa per second. Asked whether tariffs be regulated, Kohli said, "Tariffs have to be sustainable in the long-run. Trai should definitely look at predatory pricing, that is tariff lower than the cost structure of operators".

Eight new mobile operators have started or about to start services in the country.

Telecom minister A Raja had said that mobile tariffs should come down to 10 paise for local calls and for 25 paise STD calls per minute.

Kohli, however, expressed concern about high rate of taxes and levies being paid by telecom operators.

On further scope of tariff cuts, he said, "The next level of tariff cuts would come from the reduction in high taxes and levis which are burdening the telecom users. There are 30-31 per cent tax which the users have to bear right now". If the tax burden is lowered, tariffs would come down further, he said.