The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is likely to reject Digital Communications Commission’s (DCC) call to reduce the fine against Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, says The Economic Times, citing Trai officials.

There were no provisions to lower the imposed penalty due to inaction by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the officials told ET. “We had made the recommendation to the department some time ago to grade penalties, specify what penalty should be imposed for what violation of licence condition,” an official was quoted as saying in the report.

The development comes, the report said, after the DoT had approved Trai’s recommendation of levying Rs 3,050-crore penalties on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for denying Reliance Jio Infocomm adequate points of interconnection (PoIs).

This is the second time that the regulator has rejected a recommendation by the DoT regarding the penalties, said the report. Earlier, the report added, back in 2017 the regulator had stood by its recommendation of penalties and added that non-compliance with terms and conditions warranted cancellation of licences.

Disclosure:

RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.