On July 13, Vodafone approached Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to plea against the notice of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) that has ordered the telecom company to stop its premium plans with immediate effect.
According to an executive of Vodafone Idea, “TRAI’s notice says that the premium plans will disrupt the service quality of the plans that are at lower tariffs. The claim in itself is incorrect which we have explained to the TRAI. If a customer pays for 2GB, he gets that much data. A customer paying for 5GB will get 5GB without interfering with the plan of the customer that is paying a lower tariff”.
Airtel which also got the notice from TRAI is looking for legal recourse to save its interest and the company is likely to file a case soon.
According to a source,” Airtel and Vodafone Idea have written to TRAI on Monday outlining their stance but TRAI is unlikely to reconsider”.
Vodafone idea has filed for approval of its RedX plan priced at Rs 999/ month in November and later for changes in the plan in January from TRAI and got approval for both. While Airtel has filed for approval of its Platinum plan whose price started from Rs 499/ month onward during last month which it got in the month of July.
The Vodafone Idea executive said, “The only arsenal we have to drive ARPUs is tariffs. Tariffs are already very competitive and affordable. We need to have the flexibility to increase tariffs in higher bands if we want to maintain service quality. Offering faster data does not violate net neutrality norms as claimed by TRAI”.