Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel fastest network war in court

Mumbai: The row over 'fastest mobile network' between Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel has now snowballed into a full-fledged legal battle. According to a report on gizbot.com, Reliance Jio has challenged in court 'India's fastest network advertisement' that shows Bharti Airtel as number one 4G network.

Jio has alleged in its complaint to the court that the advertisement has damaged its reputation and caused monetary loss to the new entrant in India's telecom market, the report revealed. Jio has further complained that the fastest network advertisement made and disseminated by Airtel amounts to conspiracy, defamation, breach of trust among many others.

"The former (Jio) has also asked for trial under Sections 204, 406, 420, 465, 499 and 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code and if proved it can lead to fine, a few years imprisonment or both," the report further added.

The gizbot report quotes a Bharti Airtel spokesperson as saying, "We are amazed at the continued frivolous and baseless complaints made against Airtel by Reliance Jio." This information has come from a user on Twitter, Sanjay Bafna, he added.

Reliance Jio has already filed a complaint against Airtel and Ookla in Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) as the Airtel advertisemnt claims to be India's fastest network. Jio has also sent a legal notice to Ookla that is a broadband speed testing and diagnostic application, the report said.

"The claim of Airtel that it is India's fastest network is false, misleading and incorrect," the report quoted Jio as saying.