DCC approves Rs 3,050 cr penalty on Airtel, Voda Idea; telcos plan legal recourse

The Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the telecom department's apex decision-making body, on Wednesday approved imposing a cumulative penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for not providing points of interconnection to Reliance Jio.

The incumbent telecom operators said they are exploring all options, including legal recourse, to protect their interest.

"DCC has accepted Trai recommendation on penalty on Airtel, Vodafone Idea. It will send same recommendation to competent authority in government for their decision," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told reporters.

In October 2016, Trai had recommended imposing a total penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Airtel, Vodafone and Idea (now merged) for allegedly denying inter-connectivity to Reliance Jio.

The penalty on Airtel and Vodafone works out to be about Rs 1,050 crore each. In case of Idea, it comes to about Rs 950 crore. Since Vodafone and Idea have now merged their businesses, the new entity Vodafone Idea .