Delhi HC issues notice to Trai over interconnection usage charge regulation
Trai informed the court that the regulation would come into effect only in February and a stay on the regulation is unnecessary
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday issued notice to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in a plea by Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd against the telecom regulator.
Trai had introduced a regulation on interconnection usage charges on 23 February aimed at lowering call rates and subsequently amended it on 14 September. Vodafone Mobile Services, a subsidiary of Vodafone India Ltd, has challenged the regulation on grounds of arbitrariness.
A bench consisting of chief justice G. Rohini and justice Jayant Nath asked Trai to respond within four weeks while refusing to grant any interim stay.
Trai informed the court that the regulation would come into effect only in February and a stay on the regulation is unnecessary.
Interconnection usage charges are payable by a telecom operator whose subscriber makes a call to the operator whose subscriber receives the call. Trai reviews the interconnection charges in intervals of two-three years, but was unable to do it since the current interconnection regime came into place in April 2009.
A challenge to this is pending before the Supreme Court. The new charges are a consequence of the consultation process started by the telecom regulator in November 2014.
The case will be heard next on 19 January.
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