TRAI Asks Reliance Jio to Explain Extension of Free Services beyond December 31

[Mrinal Chauhan]

The regulatory authority of telecommunications sector, TRAI asked Reliance Jio to explain its extension of free services beyond December 31. In a letter to Reliance Jio Infocomm, TRAI asked why the offer of free services should not be treated as “predatory”.

Freebies Extension or Violation?

The free benefits of Reliance Jio Welcome Offer have to be limited to 90 days and the services need to end on December 3. However, the free voice calls and data benefit was extended by the company in the name of Reliance Jio Happy New Year Offer.

As per the reports published by The Economic Times, there was no response from Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd on this issue. However, the insider reports suggest that the current freebie have a cap of 1GB under Fair Usage Policy and is different from the previous Jio Welcome Offer. Now, the Jio subscribers who exhaust their data limit can now recharge to get 4G speeds.

TRAI - Sleeping Trustee?

Though there are many rumours but it is learnt that TRAI has asked Jio to spell out the issues or else it can be termed as violation. Moreover, the country’s number one telecom operator Bharti Airtel took a legal route against TRAI for being a mute spectator to Reliance Jio’s violations.

Let’s wait and watch how Reliance Jio will react to this issue. It is to be noted that TRAI has recommended a penalty of ₹3500 crore on the incumbent telecom players including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular for not providing the required interconnect (IC) to the new entrant.