Soon after the telecom regulator blocked Airtel and Vodafone Idea from offering premium plans, Vodafone Idea has moved the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) directive blocking certain premium plans of Airtel and Vodafone Idea over net neutrality issues, sources told PTI.
As per a Livemint report, Bharti Airtel too, is likely to move TDSAT against TRAI’s order.
Citing violation of norms and likely impact on the quality of services for other subscribers out of the plans, TRAIthrough a letter to both the telcos, blocked Bharti Airtel's 'Platinum' and Vodafone Idea Ltd's 'RedX' premium plans that offer faster data speeds and priority services to high-paying post-paid customers.
The matter is listed for Tuesday, July 14 at the tribunal.
TRAI had asked the telcos to "withhold, with immediate effect and until further orders" these plans in order to facilitate an examination of both the schemes by the regulator.
The regulator asked if priority to high-paying customers in those specific plans came at the cost of service deterioration for other subscribers.
It also asked the operators how they are protecting the interest of other general subscribers.
The Bharti Airtel had announced that it would give preference to platinum mobile customers, who pay Rs 499 and above per month for post -paid connection, on its 4G network.
The platinum customers will get better 4G speed on the Airtel network compared to other customers.
Following the TRAI order on Monday, an Airtel spokesperson said, “We are passionate about delivering the best network and service experience to all our customers. This is why we have a relentless obsession to eliminate faults and have been consistently recognised by international agencies as the best network in terms of speed, latency and video experience.”
"At the same time, we want to keep raising the bar for our post-paid customers in terms of service and responsiveness. This is an ongoing effort at our end," the Airtel spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea said that the RedX plan offers a range of benefits including unlimited data, calls, premium content, international roaming pack etc. for our valued postpaid customers who want more.
"VIL is committed to serve its customers with the best in class offerings and high speed 4G data across all markets. VIL's fastest 4G speed in many markets, including metros, has been verified by global testing agencies, such as Ookla and OpenSignal amongst others," the VIL spokesperson said.