TRAI clears Reliance Jio not violating any rules in predatory price complaint

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RJIL. On examination of the complaint and the response received from RJIL, TRAI thinks that the tariffs offered by RJIL are not in violation of the Tariff orders," the minister's reply said.

According to the regulations established in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act of 1997, TRAI is responsible for overseeing and controlling the pricing of telecommunications services in India. In a recent incident, TRAI received a complaint that accused Reliance Jio of engaging in predatory pricing practices with their broadband plans, particularly about the provision of TV channels through their apps or data connectivity plans.

“While offering broadband (Unlimited data and Voice) at ₹198 is low but still something that may be overlooked, offering 400 channels at ₹100 ( ₹298 plan) or 550 channels at ₹200 (398 plan) is not possible/cannot be matched by any DTH operator given the TRAI NTO Regulation," according to the complaint. The complainant contended that it is practically impossible to find any arrangement or combination of services that would allow for the provision of 400 out of 550 channels at the remarkably low price offered in the aforementioned plans.

"Not only such offerings are in contravention of TRAI's Tariff Order, but providing broadcast channels without a valid DPO authorization/license is also in violation of the extant licensing regime," it said. The complainant said that such tariffs are detrimental to the business of DTH and are predatory based on regulatory arbitrage.