Showcause notice served on Voda-Idea for priority plan

 In a notice, the regulator has asked Vodafone Idea to “show cause” by August 31, “as to why appropriate action should not be initiated against it for violating the extant regulatory framework by its RedX tariff plan.”

 Bharti Airtel has not been issued a show-cause notice, a source said. Airtel offered to abide by what TRAI says and has also voluntarily modified its platinum offering suitably, and hence TRAI is not proceeding with further investigation on that.

 In the show-cause notice sent to VIL, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) held that the “claim of VIL for providing priority 4G network with faster data speeds is not in compliance with the extant regulatory framework”.

 “The RedX tariff offer lacks transparency and is misleading and not in compliance with regulatory principles of tariff assessment contained under Telecom Tariff Order, 1999, as amended from time to time,” TRAI has said.

 Over the past weeks, TRAI had been probing Vodafone Idea’s priority plan RedX and Bharti Airtel Platinum offering to see if network preference to specific customers leads to deterioration of services for other non-premium subscribers or violates any norms.