The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has asked Aircel to pay SMS termination fee of Re 0.5 per message to Vodafone India, till the time tribunal takes a final decision on the matter of SMS termination fee.
The TDSAT has also directed Vodafone India to immediately restore interconnection of SMS generated on Aircel’s network. The matter will come for hearing again on January 10, 2013.
Earlier, both the operators moved TDSAT following Vodafone India?s move to block text messages originating from Aircel?s customers on its network across Chennai, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi and Karnataka circles. Vodafone was asking Aircel to pay Re 0.10 per SMS as termination fee, which Aircel refused to pay.
Also, in October, 2012, Vodafone India had asked Aircel to pay Rs 0.4 billion as SMS termination fee plus applicable tax for the period between April 2011 and September 2012. Aircel opposed the same on the grounds that a higher SMS termination fee will result in higher tariffs for its customers.
Termination charges are paid by an operator terminating voice calls or text messages on another operator?s network.
