CCI to probe ‘cartelisation’ by telcos

AFTER THE telecom ministry put onholdtrai’srecommendationto levy a penalty on Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular for denying Rjio points of inter-connection (Pois), the CCI has decided to conduct a detailedinvestigationintocharges of cartelisation by Reliance Jio against them.

Jio had last year in November approached the anti-monopoly body alleging the incumbents were abusing their dominant market power by forming a cartel of sorts and denying it the requisite number of points of interconnect, thereby inconveniencing its customers.

Thecci,sourcessaid,hadafter admitting the petition asked its director general (investigation) to probe whether there was a prima facie case against the incumbents necessitating a detailed probe. Since the DG has found merit in Jio’s complaint, CCI has decided to probe the matter.

The CCI’S investigation of Jio’s complaint on Pois would be the first by the regulator. Thus far, it has been the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, which have decided telecom cases. In February, even Bharti had approached CCI complaining against Jio alleging predatory pricing and anti-competitive behaviour. FE