In what is a "shutting the door after the horse has bolted" kind of move, India’s telecom regulator TRAI is examining the need to regulate promotional offers from telecom operators, in a consultation paper titled “Regulatory Principles of Tariff Assessment” (pdf). It also looks at redefining the definition of a promotional offer by looking at various features that constitute a promotional offer, how these offers can be ‘predatory’ and ‘discriminatory’, and ways to curb ‘anti-competitive’ pricing. The consultation paper comes a time when telecom operators including Airtel, Idea and Vodafone are fighting Reliance Jio in court, alleging that its free data and voice offers are ‘predatory in nature’. These operators have also named TRAI in their petitions claiming that the regulator is “perpetuating illegality” by allowing Jio to “game” the interconnection regulation. Reliance Jio initially launched in September last year, providing free calls and data (up to 4GB per day) under a promotional offer named 'welcome offer', which had a validity until December 2016. In December last year, Jio extended the free data and calling offer up till March 2017, under a new pack named 'Happy New Year Offer'. The new pack cut down free data browsing up to 1 GB per day and allowed users to make recharges starting at Rs 149. TRAI later clarified in the court that Jio’s promo offers did not violate any regulations stating that Jio’s initial “Welcome Offer Pack” which expired on December is different from the currently active “Happy New Year offer” which has a Fair Usage…
