Tariff hike: Telecom tribunal issues notices

The Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal on Wednesday issued notices to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and mobile operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea over the recent hike in tariff.

During the hearing on a petition filed by NGO Telecom Users Group of India, TDSAT Chairman directed Trai and the three operators to file their reply within a week.

In the petition, the NGO has challenged the recent price hike by the Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Idea, requesting the tribunal to put the hike in tariff on hold. It also sought a direction to Trai to look into the hike.

The NGO, during the proceedings, requested for a direction to the three operators to put on record that they would refund the excess amount back to their customers if they lose this case.

The operators had raised charges for local calls by 20 per cent and international calls by 20-32

per cent in August.

The petitioner said the companies were increasing the prices just to earn huge profit. Companies like Bharti Airtel had posted an annual profit of more than 90 per cent, the NGO said.

It said that the operators, which are virtually controlling around 64 per cent of the market, are already earning a lot of profit and there was no urgency to increase the rate in such a manner.

"Even without this hike, there was substantial profit in this sector... Companies were earning around Rs 7,200 crore (Rs 72 billion) per month," it said.

"It was not just a 20 paisa hike in the tariff. It was virtually a 20 per cent increase and by it the telcos would earn Rs 8,600 crore (Rs 86 billion) extra every year." NGO's cousel Meenakshi Arora said.