The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), in a joint letter Monday to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), requested it to refrain from enforcing its order on call drops pending the final disposal of the matter in the Supreme Court (SC) March 10, 2016, according to an Indo-Asian News Service report.
"Please note that the Supreme Court has directed the matters to be listed on March 10, 2016 for final disposal. In view of the above and since the aforesaid matters are sub-judice before the Court, we request you to keep your letter dated March 2, 2016 in abeyance, (sic)" the joint letter to TRAI said.
TRAI had, in October last year, mandated that operators have to pay its customers Re 1 for every call drop they suffer, capped at Rs 3 per day. This was to come into effect from Jan. 1 this year.
TRAI had set a deadline of March 7 of this year for telecom operators to file a compliance report on customers being compensated for call drops. Earlier this month, TRAI got approval from the Delhi High Court to penalise telecom service providers for call drops.
The COAI and the AUSPI had earlier this month challenged TRAI's decision in the Supreme Court. The apex court refused to pass an interim order on it and agreed to hold a hearing March 10 on a plea challenging TRAI's mandate.
