COAI wants Trai to check if cash back offers with recharges flout rules
ET Bureau|
Updated: Nov 13, 2017, 10.09 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said that the sector regulator should examine Jio’s latest cash back offerings when recharge is done with more than Rs 399 and more, for any violation of existing rules.
“If the offer is in the nature of cash back, the question arises as to what conditions attach to receiving the cash back. Is this another way of discounting the service cost?,” said Rajan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
“TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) will need to parse these offers to determine if any of this violates their tariff regulations in letter and spirit,” Mathews added.
The lobby group represents incumbents including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular as well as new entrant Reliance Jio. The Mukesh Ambani-led new telco has often accused COAI of advocating the interests of just the three big telcos – Airtel, Vodafone and Idea – at the cost of other members.
COAI added that when cash is involved, the terms and conditions matter more than if the coupons or minutes were used, for instance, buying a phone that an operator was promoting, “hence the need for the regulator to decide”.
TRAI chairman RS Sharma has said that the authority was routinely looking at all tariff plans when they are filed with the regulator and will seek out the carrier if it finds anything contrary to the rules.
“We routinely examine the offers and we will continue to do so,” he said.
The new entrant last week launched three kinds of cash back offers on every recharge of Rs 399 and above between November 10 and 25. One, through eight vouchers of Rs 50 each that will be credited to the MyJio digital wallet of all Jio Prime members, which can be used to get the equal amount of value subtracted from subsequent recharges, or data top ups, each month.
Besides these, Jio subscribers will get vouchers worth Rs 300 credited into other mobile wallets such as AmazonPay, AxisPay, FreeCharge, Mobikwik, Paytm and PhonePe over subsequent months. Subscribers will also get vouchers of up to Rs 1,899 for shopping on ecommerce platforms and for discounts on flight tickets on specific portals.
“If the offer is in the nature of cash back, the question arises as to what conditions attach to receiving the cash back. Is this another way of discounting the service cost?,” said Rajan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
“TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) will need to parse these offers to determine if any of this violates their tariff regulations in letter and spirit,” Mathews added.
The lobby group represents incumbents including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular as well as new entrant Reliance Jio. The Mukesh Ambani-led new telco has often accused COAI of advocating the interests of just the three big telcos – Airtel, Vodafone and Idea – at the cost of other members.
COAI added that when cash is involved, the terms and conditions matter more than if the coupons or minutes were used, for instance, buying a phone that an operator was promoting, “hence the need for the regulator to decide”.
TRAI chairman RS Sharma has said that the authority was routinely looking at all tariff plans when they are filed with the regulator and will seek out the carrier if it finds anything contrary to the rules.
“We routinely examine the offers and we will continue to do so,” he said.
The new entrant last week launched three kinds of cash back offers on every recharge of Rs 399 and above between November 10 and 25. One, through eight vouchers of Rs 50 each that will be credited to the MyJio digital wallet of all Jio Prime members, which can be used to get the equal amount of value subtracted from subsequent recharges, or data top ups, each month.
Besides these, Jio subscribers will get vouchers worth Rs 300 credited into other mobile wallets such as AmazonPay, AxisPay, FreeCharge, Mobikwik, Paytm and PhonePe over subsequent months. Subscribers will also get vouchers of up to Rs 1,899 for shopping on ecommerce platforms and for discounts on flight tickets on specific portals.
