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TRAI is it’s circular issued on 25th May has issued directions to Telcos to stop offers which are segmented , also these tariff plans or offers must be submitted to TRAI for approval.
Here it may be recalled that these same telcos were complaining of Tariff plan of Jio no submitted to TRAI. And now these telcos are offering segmented/customized/personalized offers to selected users. Acc. to these telcos this practice of customized is old in industry. Does that make it legal? Problem is all of these segmented offers/plans are brought up in the eyes of TRAI then total no of tariff plan would very easily exceed the limit of “no more than 25 tariff plans for customers” as prescribed by TRAI.
So while telcos on one hand are complaining of Jio predatory pricing however they themselves are using unlawful way to tackle competition as according to Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999 all the tariffs offered to the consumers shall not be discriminatory between the subscribers of the same class and to ensure that every tariff that is offered to a customer is invariably reported to the Authority as per reporting framework.
Checkout the highlighted part in TRAI direction circular below along with source to read in complete detail.
Now, therefore, the Authority, in exercise of powers conferred upon it under section 13 read with section 11 (2) and 12(4) of TRAI Act, 1997 and the provisions of the Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999 and in order to protect the interests of the consumers and for the reasons mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, hereby directs all the Access Service Providers:-
to ensure that all the tariffs offered to the consumers shall be in accordance with the provisions of Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999 and shall not be discriminatory between the subscribers of the same class and to ensure that every tariff that is offered to a customer is invariably reported to the Authority as per reporting framework under the forbearance regime unless an express exemption has been provided in the Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999 (as amended from time to time). Source