Trai chairman RS Sharma on Tuesday welcomed the move by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the incumbent operators on moving court over its latest regulations on predatory pricing, stating that the approach is the “right way” to address issues. “Its the right and matured way to take things up if one is not satisfied with a particular regulation or policy. We have no reservations or objections if someone wants to challenge Trai’s order in court. After all that is the right place and the right forum to do so,” Sharma told FE. Reacting for the first time since Vodafone Global CEO Vittorio Colao and COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews said they would explore legal avenues to challenge Trai’s order, Sharma said that they (Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular) had in the past moved TDSAT alleging bias in one of the operator’s (Reliance Jio) tariff plans, but lost the case. “All I have to say is that everybody has a right to go to court. It is among the laws of the land and I welcome that,” Sharma said.
On Monday, Colao said that the operator would challenge the latest amendments to the Telecom Tariff Order (TTO) in court, claiming that it benefits only Jio. On February 16, Trai came out with the definition of predatory pricing for the first time, where it said that if an operator in a relevant market, of which it controls more than 30% share, comes out with a price that is below average variable cost and is with the intention to reduce competition or eliminate competition, the pricing will be considered predatory. Following this, COAI, on February 20, said that the regulations benefit a particular operator and had hit out at the regulator saying that the recent amendment has “deeply victimised” the industry. The association also said that its members are exploring legal avenues. The controversy over the regulations seems to have turned into a full-blown controversy, with Jio also sending notice to Mathews to apologise failing which the operator would take Mathews and the association to court. Jio feels that COAI’s response on the TTO has tarnished its reputations.
