TDSAT refuses to stay TRAI order to hold Vodafone Idea’s premium plan

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Tuesday refused to stay the sector regulator’s order asking to put on hold Vodafone Idea’s RedX plan offering faster data speeds and priority services to higher-paying postpaid customers. Vodafone Idea had approached the appellate tribunal on Monday.

The hearing will continue on 16 July.

The move will also impact Bharti Airtel’s Platinum plan, launched last week for postpaid users, that was also blocked by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 11 July along with its rival Vodafone Idea’s RedX plan.

TRAI on Sunday had put on hold Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s premium plans citing violation of service norms and the possibility of lower data speeds for those who have not opted for such schemes.

“These companies (Airtel and Vodafone Idea) had themselves submitted earlier that they cannot specify minimum or average speeds provided to customers and now they want to offer higher speeds to select customers. We just want to examine the details of the plans,” a senior TRAI official told Mint.

Telcom analysts argue that such plans already exist for broadband services, where subscribers get better speeds for higher-paid schemes and similar offers can be made for wireless services as well.

However, according to the official, “broadband services have dedicated bandwidths under which speeds cannot be compromised, while in case of wireless, whether the same space is being used to prioritise some customers needs to be seen.”

TRAI has asked Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to hold these plans until the details are evaluated. This directive will not impact the existing customers, who are already using such plans. The regulator does not want new customers to come onboard and complicate the issue futher, the official said.

“We have sought details from Airtel and Vodafone and given them a week’s time to respond… We have just asked them to hold these plans,” the official added.

Saurav Kumar, a partner at IndusLaw, said, “Over the years, the tariff has moved from fixation of tariff regime to that of a forbearance regime, with post-facto reporting. Given that a ‘light-touch regulation‘ approach is followed by TRAI, such a measure of blocking a product at the first instance without giving an opportunity to the telcos to explain or respond may be contrary to the guidelines.”

This may also be viewed as curbing the freedom of telcos to design new products, which has been the policy so far, Kumar added.

Bharti Airtel Ltd on 6 July had announced faster 4G data speeds for all its platinum customers – postpaid users paying ₹499 or above. The Sunil Mittal-led telecom major had said it has deployed advanced technologies for its ‘Priority 4G Network’ that will give its platinum subscribers preference on the network.

Vodafone Idea had introduced its RedX plan in November for postpaid customers with a launch price of ₹999, offering up to 50% faster speeds and special services. The price of the plan was hiked by ₹100 in May.

-Livemint