Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has allowed Bharti Airtel?s petition against Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), say news reports.
In November 2011, Bharti Airtel had approached TDSAT against TTSL, seeking dues of Rs 2.87 billion from TTSL on account of SMS termination charges. Termination charges are paid by an operator from whose network calls or SMSes originate to the operator on whose network these communications end.
TDSAT while allowing Bharti Airtel?s petition, observed that TTSL had bypassed the industry system of ?bill and keep?. As part of the system, operators keep a track of the SMS received and forwarded and accordingly make payments to each other. However, TTSL bypassed this system when entering into an agreement with Bharti Airtel on September 4, 2009, as part of which it paid Bharti Airtel Rs 60 million.
TDSAT dismissed TTSL?S claims that Bharti Airtel was breaching the ?bill and keep? system by asking it to pay for SMS termination charges.
