New Delhi: Stepping up its fight against Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel has moved fair trade regulator CCI against the newcomer alleging that it is indulging in "predatory pricing" with free services to eliminate competition in the telecom market.
Airtel, which is the country's largest telecom services provider by market share, has also alleged that Reliance Jio is abusing its dominant position. This is the latest complaint pertaining to the highly competitive domestic telecom sector that has come before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) -- which keeps a tab on unfair business practices across sectors.
Last month, Reliance Jio had moved the fair trade regulator against incumbent players for alleged anti- competitive practices. Hitting back at allegations of abuse of dominant position and predatory pricing, Reliance Jio said the question of the offerings being predatory does not arise as "all tariff plans of Jio have been found to be non-predatory by the regulator".
"This latest salvo by Airtel is a clear ploy to divert attention from its own violation of licensing conditions by having denied adequate Points of Interconnect (POIs) to Jio and the already announced censure proceedings by the TRAI against them," a Reliance Jio spokesperson said.
CCI at first assesses the merit of allegations and if there is prima-facie evidence of competition norms violations, then a detailed probe is ordered. Reliance Jio has been crossing swords with incumbent operators including Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular over call connectivity issue.
According to Airtel's complaint, the newcomer is offering free service and the strategy is to "bind the customer to free voice and minimise competition, including eliminating competition from smaller players, to gain a higher market share".
The Mukesh Ambani-led firm has extended its free services till March 31 after the initial offer period ended on December 31, 2016. Meanwhile, Reliance Jio has alleged that Airtel is acting against consumer interest by stridently opposing the free voice benefit.
