The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices to revise their tariffs for WLL limited mobility services announced on May 1 because they were not compliant with the new interconnect norms.

The move comes after the two companies failed to resolve the concerns raised by the telecom regulator.

Official sources said Trai had communicated its intentions to the two companies during the classificatory meetings held recently. The sources said the regulator was likely to send an official directive to this effect in the next few days, if the companies did not submit their new tariff plans.

Trai had raised objections to the low STD tariff offered by the two operators. While Reliance was offering long-distance calls at 40 paise a minute, Tata Teleservices had announced a 55 paise STD rate.

Tata Teleservices sources said the company would comply with the Trai directive and would submit its revised tariffs in the next 24 hours.

The new Trai directive could see the end of Reliance's 40 paise STD rate, though the company could challenge the order in court. This is the second time Trai has asked Reliance to revise its STD tariffs upwards.

As per its first tariff proposal, Reliance had offered STD calls at 20 paise a minute. Trai had intervened then and forced Reliance to double it to 40 paise. However, subsequently, when the interconnect regime was put in place, Trai had specified that all earlier approvals stood withdrawn and companies would have to submit new tariffs.

Industry sources said Reliance's tariffs had already been approved by Trai under its former chairman M S Verma and the company had proved that the tariffs were based on costs. They said Reliance had given all clarifications and documents supporting the announced tariffs.

Trai had earlier asked cellular operators Bharti Cellular, Essar Hutchison and Idea to hold back their STD tariffs of 50 paise per minute. Trai's recent directives could not put an end to the spiralling of telecom tariffs. While this is bad news for consumers, it may come as a blessing for operators whose bottomlines were being eroded due to steep cuts in tariffs.

The countdown

• Reliance Infocomm files new tariffs with Trai for approval
• April 30 - Trai says operators are free to announce tariffs on May 1 if they are compliant with interconnect charges norms.
• May 1 - Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices announce their tariffs for limited mobility.
• May 2 - Trai seeks clarification from the Tatas and Reliance on low STD tariffs, calls for discussion.