The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), a special court which looks into telecom cases, has asked regulator TRAI to “re-examine” its earlier stance that Reliance Jio’s free plans do not violate any regulations or appear to be discriminatory or predatory, reports PTI. It also ordered the TRAI today to file a response within two weeks after re-examining its earlier findings, according to the report. The TDSAT was responding to the ongoing case involving top telecoms operators in the country, Reliance Jio, and the regulator TRAI itself. Rival operators Idea and Airtel earlier filed a case with TDSAT in January alleging that TRAI was “perpetuating illegality” by allowing Jio to “game” the interconnection regulation with its free calls and data offer. Idea termed TRAI as a “mute spectator” to Jio’s violation of the regulator’s own rule that a promo offer cannot be extended over a period of 90 days. Both operators said that under existing regulations Jio should have discontinued its promo offer on December 3rd, which equates to 90 days. TRAI, however, told TDSAT last month that that Jio’s initial “Welcome Offer Pack” which expired on December is different from the currently active “Happy New Year offer” which has an FUP of 1GB per day, set to expire on March 31st. “These are two different promotional offers. One ended in December and the other is ending in March. So, there is no violation,” a TRAI official was quoted as saying to The Hindu last month. Now since the TDSAT is requesting…
