Reliance Jio on Friday said that it may take legal action against the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for alleging that the recent predatory pricing regulation brought out by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) favours it over the incumbent operators. Terming COAI’s response on the recent amendments to the Telecom Tariff Order (TTO) as “reckless, willful and flagrant act of making slanderous and libelous accusations” against it, Jio said that the statement is “ex-facie defamatory” and is veiled under the garb of criticising the orders of Trai. In a statement on February 20, COAI had said that Trai’s latest regulations benefit a particular operator, and had hit out at the regulator saying that the recent amendment has “deeply victimised” the industry. “It is highly regrettable and appalling to see that a body, which had once emerged as the official voice of the Indian telecom industry, is now reduced to becoming an instrument and mouthpiece of Bharti, Vodafone and Idea (including Telenor, now controlled by Bharti), the Incumbent Dominant Operators (IDOs),” Jio said in a letter to COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews.
“RJIL reserves its rights to initiate criminal and civil defamation proceedings, including for damages, against both COAI and IDOs, jointly and or severally,” the company said. COAI’s press release manifestly constitutes false communication that are intentionally, wrongfully and maliciously made to induce disparaging and inimical public opinions against Jio, the operator said, adding that it is motivated by the aim to devalue the esteem, regard and confidence enjoyed by the company, thus causing injury to Jio’s reputation among the public and in the market. Despite being a core member of COAI, Jio complained that it was not consulted and the statement was issued “on the dictates of the IDOs”, who control the association by virtue of their voting rights.
The company said that COAI’s claim that the TTO is strengthening the ambitions of one particular operator (Jio) with deep pockets and monopolistic designs at the expense of other operators’ is “unfounded, spiteful, unwarranted and clearly motivated to create prejudice against Jio, which by itself establishes an act of defamation”.
On segmented offers, Jio claimed that under the garb of discounted/customised tariffs, incumbents have been offerings such tariffs on a one-to-one basis in a clearly discriminatory manner with complete lack of transparency, which clearly constitutes anti-competitive activity and is against consumer interests. Jio said that COAI’s press release constitutes a clear act of defamation in law, in as much as false imputations are made about Jio, and were made wilfully and knowing fully well that they would harm and “has indeed harmed the reputation of Jio”. Demanding an apology and clarification from COAI within 48 hours, Jio said the press release “warrants criminal and civil action for defamation”.