Reliance Communications (RCOM) and Bharti Airtel are engaged in a disagreement over routing toll-free calls, say news reports.
RCOM has filed a petition against Bharti Airtel with Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) alleging that Bharti Airtel is blocking toll-free calls coming from RCOM?s enterprise clients.
Earlier, in 2007, RCOM signed an interconnection agreement with Bharti Airtel for enabling its consumers to dial toll-free numbers starting with ?1800? and ?1860?. In return, RCOM agreed to pay about Re 0.5 per call to Bharti Airtel to offset the expenses towards the free call. However, issues between the two operators developed when RCOM started terminating some calls originating on Bharti Airtel?s network to a location outside India.
According to Bharti Airtel, toll-free calls starting with ?1800? cannot be terminated outside India. The operator is of the view that for international toll-free calls, the number series should start with ?00800? and in such cases RCOM is supposed to pay Bharti Airtel Rs 1.10 per call.
Further, Bharti Airtel has alleged that RCOM has deprived it of a higher revenue share and has violated the national numbering plan by masking international toll-free calls under the 1800 series. However, RCOM is of the view that there is no such distinction on using the 1800 series and the ?00800? series is applicable only to bilateral arrangements between an international operator and an Indian operator.
RCOM has termed Bharti Airtel?s action as mala fide and arbitrary as the operator was creating an artificial distinction between calls terminating in India and outside India.
