Mumbai: Bharti Airtel, country's largest telecom operator, has alleged that Reliance Jio delayed withdrawal of Summer Surprise despite TRAI ruling against the offer.
TRAI had asked Reliance Jio to stop Summer Surprise as according to the telecom regulator offer was not in sync with regulatory framework governing India's telecom sector.
After TRAI ruling came in, Jio released a statement saying it has accepted the directive and would stop Summer Surprise as and when it was operationally feasible for the same. Interestingly, Jio did not specify exactly when it would stop Summer Surprise.
Jio had also indicated those users who had signed up for three months complimentary offer before discontinuation of the service would continue to get benefits. This did not go down well with incumbent operators like Bharti Airtel.
Bharti Airtel today took up the matter with Telecom Disputes Appellate Tribunal that held a brief hearing on it. TDSAT has posted the matter for April 20 when it would be hearing the case in detail.
Reliance Jio last month unveiled its three months complimentary plan Summer Surprise for 72 million users of paid service Jio Prime. The offer promised unlimited 4G data for a monthly recharge of Rs 303 but with a cap of 1GB data usage everyday.
On February 21, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani had announced out of 100 million free customer, Jio managed to woo 72 million customer for its paid service Jio Prime
That means Reliance Jio garnered 72 per cent of its free subscribers who had been part of customer base using Jio Welcome Offer and Jio Happy New Year offer as paid users.
Under Summer Surprise, a Jio user was supposed to get unlimited 4G data for Rs 303 with a usage ceiling of 1GB data per day. The three months offer came after Reliance Jio's two consecutive free schemes exhausted on March 31.
TDSAT is already hearing a petition brought in by Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular against TRAI that allowed Reliance Jio to continue free offerings beyond stipulated 90 days from September 5 to December 31, 2016.
