Cellular operator at liberty to introduce free incoming call scheme, rules HC
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 19: The Delhi high court today clarified that an individual cellular service operator was free to introduce the scheme for free incoming calls on mobile phones and that its order yesterday would not come in his way.

"If an individual operator wants to introduce the scheme on his own, he is free to do so," a division bench comprising Chief Justice S N Variava and Justice S K Mahajan told Cellular Operators Association of India counsel, who wanted to know whether any operator could launch the scheme on his own.

The court yesterday had struck down Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's revenue sharing regulation of May 1999 on inter-connection charges between the service providers and its `calling party pays' scheme under which incoming calls were proposed to be made free on mobile phones.

The court further clarified that the operators had to pass all those benefits to consumers, which were given to them by the government under the new telecom package, introduced in August last year.This include reduction of rental charges from Rs 600 to Rs 475 per month and airtime per minute call charges from Rs six to Rs four.

NTP had provided for switch over by the operators from the licence fee regime to revenue sharing and reduction of rental charges and the airtime call charges formed as part of it.

The court in its order yesterday had ruled that TRAI could not lay down terms and conditions to service providers on introduction of telecom service, installation of equipment, technology and regulate in respect of the telecom industry.

It said that TRAI's power in this regard were only "recommendatory" and government was not bound to obey its advice.

TRAI on May 28, 1999 had framed telecom interconnection (charges and revenue sharing) regulation to ensure "effective" interconnection between SPs.

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