Recently released data by the government show that highest amount of penalties were imposed on Vodafone India for tariff rule violations while highest amount of fines were imposed on Bharti Airtel for breaching mobile number portability (MNP) norms, till date.
Vodafone has been penalised over Rs 600,000 for charging customers on new tariff without informing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) within seven working days from the date of implementation. Other companies fined for this violation include Aircel (Rs 230,000), Reliance Communications (Rs 200,000) Airtel (Rs 50,000) Tikona (Rs 25,000), Loop Mobile (Rs 20,000) and D-Vois Broadband (Rs 30,000).
With regard to MNP, all the telecom operators except state-run firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited have been found to have violated rules. The maximum penalty for violation of MNP regulation has been imposed on Airtel (Rs 46 million), followed by Aircel (Rs 15.7 million). Vodafone has also been fined Rs 10 million for MNP norms violation, while Idea has been penalised about Rs 540,000, followed by Tata Teleservices (Rs 190,000), Loop Mobile (Rs 241,000), Reliance Communications including Reliance Telecom (Rs 55,000), Uninor (Rs 12,500) and Videocon including Quadrant (Rs 29,000).
Separately, around 13 companies have been penalised with an amount of over Rs 270 million for violation of telemarketing call rules and SMS rules. Apart from this, penalties of over Rs 65 million have been imposed on telecom operators for providing below standard quality of service.
