Trai penalty on Airtel, Vodafone upheld

The Digital Communications Commission, the telecom department’s apex decision-making body, on Wednesday approved a cumulative penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for not providing points of interconnection to Reliance Jio.

“The commission has accepted Trai’s recommendation on penalty on Airtel and Vodafone Idea. It will send the same recommendation to the competent authority in the government for their decision,” telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan told reporters on Wednesday.

Airtel and Vodafone Idea allegedly denied points of interconnect to Jio when it started mobile operations three years ago. The ruling will come as a setback for Airtel and Vodafone Idea as both telcos are making losses in a low-tariff environment while battling cheap prices from Jio.