Vodafone, Airtel meet Trai to clear air on tariff hike

NEW DELHI: Amidst allegations of cartelisation, representatives from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar along with the GSM industry lobby — Cellular Operators Association of India — director general TV Ramachandran met officials from telecom regulator Trai to explain the rationale behind the recent hike in tariffs and SMS rates. The meeting with Trai came even as sources in the regulator said that there existed a pattern of ‘pricing cooperation’ between operators.

“The meeting was to explain that the recent price hike was purely a function of market dynamics. There is no question of a concocted effort on the part of operators to rise prices and these hikes are not across the board — they are only for select plans in select circles. We have also told the regulator that there are alternative plans available for customers to choose from. In such a market it is only natural that there is some price movements across some plans,” Mr Ramachandran told ET after the meeting with the regulator.

This comes as earlier this week, Bharti and Vodafone had hiked local SMS rates by 20% to Rs 1.20 from Re 1. Just prior to that the two operators had also hiked STD tariffs and also increased local call rates within their own networks by 20% to Rs 1.20 per minute.

However, subscribers may be in line for some relief as both the regulator and officials in the telecom ministry, including communications minister A Raja are against any increase in tariffs. As reported earlier by ET Trai has already warned Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar that it could intervene if the trend continued with regard to the hike in SMS tariffs. At the same time, the regulator is also ‘monitoring’ the tariff hike in STD and local calls though it is yet to decide on the course of action.