No cartelisation in telecom: Sunil Mittal

NEW DELHI: CII President Sunil Bharti Mittal on Tuesday lamented that telecom sector has been accused of cartelisation despite offering lowest tariffs to people.

"CII abhors cartel.. it will never encourage cartelisation. It is important to find out if any industry is doing cartelisation, then punish them," Mittal said at the annual session of the chamber.

"Telecom tariffs are mind boggling.. yet MRTPC opens up cartelisation cases (against telecom companies)," Mittal said.

MRTPC has issued notice against three big telecom operators, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, for allegedly forming a cartel to distort competition.

Earlier this month, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) Bench had directed the three companies to file their reply within four weeks.

In the investigation report, Director General of Investigations and Registrations (DGIR) had said that the three GSM operators, by colluding, have simultaneously increased the price.