The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with TRAI’s recommendation for imposing a penalty of Rs. 1,050 crores on two Vodafone companies for allegedly denying inter-connectivity to Reliance Jio Info COMM Ltd (RJIL) under an Interconnection Agreement executed between them.
The high court noted that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) October 21, 2016, recommendation, which has been challenged here is also under challenge before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), and tribunals are expert bodies constituted under statute to decide the disputes arising under that statute.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramaniam Prasad, in its May 24 judgment, said the TDSAT has been empowered to deal with all disputes arising under the TRAI Act. The Central government had passed an order on September 29, 2021, imposing a penalty on the petitioner companies for violation of the provisions of licence agreement and standards of Quality of Service (QOS) regulations of basic telephone service (wireline) and cellular mobile telephone service regulations, 2009.
Vodafone has challenged the recommendation made by TRAI to the Secretary, Department of Telecommunication, for penal action, contending that the recommendation was contrary to law and deserved to be struck down.
If you have an interesting Article / Report/case study to share, please get in touch with us at editors@roymediative.com/ roy@roymediative.com, 9811346846/9625243429.