| |
| | |  Advertisement | | |
| |
September 07, 2007 17:04 IST
The Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal pulled up the regulator Telecom Regulatory Authorityof India on Friday for not intervening till now in the matter of recent tariff hike by three major telecom players -- Bharti Airtel [Get Quote], Vodafone Essar and Idea.
Replying to a petition by NGO, Telecom Watchdog, on last month's hike in charges by the operators, TRAI said: "We are constantly watching in this issue... and still the charges are within the ceiling limits".
"What are you watching. This is not a simple bird watching. You have to intervene," a TDSAT bench headed by Justice Arun Kumar told Trai.
Telecom watchdog sought the regulator's intervention on the price hike by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea and alleged that the three telcos have formed a cartel and increased local call charges by 20 per cent along with 20-32 per cent increase on ISD calls.
The tribunal also said it wanted a positive response from the regulator on this issue.
On this, Trai counsel said he would take instructions from the regulator on what they could do in this matter.
Trai has put the tariffs under forbearance policy, through which it monitors the level of charges, after a persistent downward trend due to competition in the past.
© Copyright 2007 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|
| |
Email this Article 
Print this Article