Under the voracious pricing tariff rule, TRAI had banned telecom operators, with over 30 percent market share, from contribution services at a price which is below the regular cost of service that is proposed to decrease competition or eradicate the competitors.
The telecom controller Trai has approached the Supreme Court against TDSAT order, which dismissed its voracious pricing tariff rule, Parliament was familiar.
"Trai has filed a command before Hon'ble highest Court alongside the order of Hon'ble TDSAT dated 13th December 2018. The petition is yet to be listed," telecom minister Manoj Sinha said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
Under the grasping pricing tariff rule, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had disqualified telecom operators, with over 30 percent market share, from offering services at a price which is below the average cost of service that is planned to reduce competition or eradicate the competitors.
The controller has also said that telcos will have to provide services to all subscribers availing the same tariff plan in an unbiased manner.
However, the same was dismissed by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal(TDSAT) in an order dated December 13, 2018, citing lack of transparency in the guidelines over formative market share and rates of services.
In February 2018, Trai said it will impress financial discouragement of up to Rs 50 lakh per circle on operators if their service rates are found to be predatory in nature. The adjustment was issued after old telecom operators Airtel, Vodafone and Idea alleged that Reliance Jio is offering services at predatory rates.
Sinha said that clearness in tariff is and has always been an issue of prime concern for the government and to protect the interests of the consumers of telecommunications services, the regulator has issued several tariff orders, directions, and guidelines in order to ensure precision in tariff offers from time-to-time.
"However, despite these measures to ensure clearness in tariff, the Trai has been receiving the complaint from consumers and consumer organizations highlighting, inter-alia, lack of clearness in the tariff offer of telecom service providers," Sinha said.
Trai does not handle individual consumer complaints but the complaints received from consumers are forwarded to the worried telecom operators for suitable action.
Data shared by the telecom minister shows that the number of consumer complaint received by the regulator has increased in 2018.
Till December 20, 2018, Trai has received 1,316 complaints from consumers, while in 2017, the regulator had received 1,055 complaints.
