Delhi High Court stays DoT’s directive to stop intra-circle 3G roaming pacts

The High Court has stayed the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) directive asking operators to terminate 3G roaming pacts, say news reports.

Prior to this, Bharti Airtel had approached the Delhi High Court against DoT over the issue. In its petition, Bharti Airtel said that DoT’s order to stop 3G roaming pacts would adversely affect subscribers. It also stated that DoT’s decision was in violation of Article 14 (equality before law) as it was arbitrary and contrary to the contract between the parties involved in the 3G roaming pacts.

Earlier, DoT had sent notices to various operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular to terminate the 3G roaming pacts. DoT had also asked operators to submit a compliance report within the three days of issuing the notices.