The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has rolled out a major tariff order for the telcos. According to the regulator’s order, the telcos can’t offer differential tariffs via their commercial partners. The sector regulator has said that the telcos can only offer tariffs that have been reported to the authorities. This is because offering anything else through the commercial partners is discriminatory and “contravene” the current rules set around pricing by the regulator.
Telecom Operators Shouldn’t Offer Anything Not Reported to the Regulator
The telecom operators can’t offer anything that has not been reported to the regulator. The sector regulator wants everything to be transparent, and if the operators offer tariffs that are not reported, it would be unfair to the customers. It is worth noting that this order has been released by the regulator because the telcos have been complaining against each other. It is not just one operator that has been doing this but all the private telecom operators, including Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel. In recent months, both Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have been coming out with commercial offers very aggressively to attract the customers of Vodafone Idea. As per Jefferies, Vodafone Idea customers have already started to migrate to the networks of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. The order from TRAI looks very justified, and this order will ensure transparency in the sector. If the telcos offer any differential tariffs to attract customers through the mobile number portability (MNP) route now, they will have to be answerable to the sector regulator. This means that the telcos can now not offer differential tariffs through third-party applications and can’t even form any commercial partnership to offer such tariffs to attract new customers. This order from the TRAI looks very timely, and it is something that Vodafone Idea will appreciate the most. Vodafone Idea will be further waiting for the relief package from the government.
