Delhi HC Refuses To Interfere With TRAI Penalty On Vodafone Idea More Than 1000 Crore

British telecom company Vodafone has suffered a major setback in a case several years old. Delhi High Court has refused to interfere in Telecom Regulatory TRAI’s decision to impose penalty on two companies of Vodafone. TRAI had imposed a fine of Rs 1,050 crore on two Vodafone companies for not properly following the provisions related to inter-connectivity, which was challenged by Vodafone in the Delhi High Court.

was fined for this

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, ie TRAI, had recommended the imposition of this fine on these two companies of Vodafone for allegedly refusing to provide Inter-Connectivity Service to Reliance Jio Infocomm. This facility was to be given under the inter-connectivity agreement between Vodafone and Jio, which was not followed properly.

TRAI recommended in 2016

This directive issued by Vodafone on October 21, 2016 was challenged in the Delhi High Court. While giving the verdict, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramaniam Prasad said that the fine imposed by TRAI has also been challenged in the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal ie TDSAT. TDSAT is authorized to settle all disputes arising under the TRAI Act.

Delhi High Court made this comment

The bench said that if the Delhi High Court intervenes in this regard, it will adversely affect the TDSAT hearing. For this reason, the court dismissed the petition filed by Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd and Vodafone Idea Ltd.

Order passed in the year 2021

In 2016, TRAI had recommended imposition of penalty on both companies of Vodafone. After that, on September 29, 2021, the Central Government had passed an order to impose fine on these companies of Vodafone. The fine was imposed for violating the provisions of the Cellular Mobile Telephone Services Rules, 2009 and the Basic Telephone Services Regulation. Out of this, a fine of Rs 950 crore has been imposed on Vodafone Idea Limited and Rs 100 crore on Vodafone Mobile Services Limited.

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