Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has denied any interim relief to Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) in a matter related to the penalty imposed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for selling pre-activated SIM cards.
The matter pertains to pre-activated SIMs allegedly being sold by a Vi retail partner in east Uttar Pradesh (UP). Earlier, the DoT had imposed a penalty of Rs 19 million on Vi and added a condition that it will seize bank guarantee of the company if the operator fails to make the payment in the following week.
The UP police raided the premise of the retail partner on March 11, 2020, and discovered pre-activated SIM cards of the company. To this end, DoT had issued a show cause notice to the company on March 24, 2020, and later a demand notice of Rs 19 million on the basis of Rs 50,000 penalty per SIM card.
