TRAI may ask Bharti Airtel to furnish details of segmented offers in 'stipulated format', Vodafone Idea seeks more time

New Delhi: Telecom regulator TRAI plans to ask telecom operator Bharti Airtel to cough up additional details on segmented or concessional offerings it made to customers and will insist that information furnished adheres to its ‘prescribed format’, a source said. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had last month asked operators to submit information on concessional offers dished out between April 2018 and March 2019, and while Bharti Airtel has shared some details, Vodafone Idea sought two more weeks to submit the same. A TRAI official privy to the development said Bharti Airtel has merely mentioned the number of segmented offers given in a month, but added that the regulator wants the information segregated circle-wise and co-related with the existing plans. [caption id=“attachment_4537081” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Also, Bharti Airtel has furnished the details for December 2018 onwards, while TRAI has sought details of such concessions over a longer period, the official noted. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea has sought two more weeks to submit the required information citing its recent merger and the amount of information involved. Both Airtel and Vodafone Idea declined to comment to e-mail queries sent to them. The source further said TRAI would like to have access to information on concessions being given to subscribers by operators, for its record. “The operators are not putting it (segmented offer details) in public domain, nor are they filing those offers…so they have to tell us, in each plan how many segmented offers have been made,” the official said. The telecom tribunal, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), in December last year, had set aside TRAI’s rule on predatory pricing as also its regulation that required telcos to report all segmented offers. However, the TDSAT had said that TRAI can seek details of any segmented offer about which it may have received complaints and can even examine whether such offers for existing customers are actually non-discriminatory. Subsequently, in April this year, TRAI directed operators to submit before it details in a set format that entailed rates, terms and conditions of the scheme, quantum of service that customers will get, name of the plan, validity and benefits available to the subscriber under the plan in which the segmented offer has been given. TRAI directed telecom service providers to share with it the number of subscribers at the end of each month who have availed the segmented offers within each tariff plan.