Airtel cries foul, says Jio took too much time to comply with TRAI order

The conflict between Indian telecom market leader Bharti Airtel and new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm doesn’t seem to end in the near future.

After mud-slinging each other in the past over several issues, including Jio’s free services and Airtel’s claims of being the fastest network in India, the latter has now accused the former of violating the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) order to stop its Summer Surprise offer. It has also requested the regulatory authority to take "suitable action."

Also read: Reliance Jio writes to ASCI against Ookla's network speed test of Airtel

In turn, Jio has reminded of its April 6 statement, which said that it would comply with the order as soon as it is "operationally feasible.

Airtel, on the other hand, is of the view that the offer should have been stopped immediately. "We are surprised that Reliance Jio is openly continuing with its Summer Special offer despite the same being declared ab initio void by the TRAI," a Bharti Airtel spokesperson told ET over email on Sunday.

"In addition, Reliance Jio is running an aggressive campaign via social media and on ground as well as digital flyers encouraging customers and channel partners to subscribe and recharge under the scheme."

"We are sure the honorable regulator will take suitable action against this violation," the mail further said.

Also read: Unlimited calls, 2GB data per day; BSNL seems to follow Jio’s steps

Jio has stated that it’s not broken any laws. "All the customers who have subscribed to Jio Summer Surprise offer prior to its discontinuation will remain eligible for the offer," it added.

Ever since Jio’s commercial launch and two successive free offers that followed, incumbent telcos have been facing a lot of issues, in terms of customer retention.

Also read: Extension of Reliance Jio sops is another nightmare for rival telcos

While some have slashed voice and data rates, Idea and Vodafone even announced their merger.

Not only this, even the government has seen a fall in the amount of possible revenue it collects as license fees.

(Image source LiveMint)