Jio accuses Airtel, VIL of illegally masking wireline as mobile numbers; asks Trai to slap penalties

Firing yet another salvo, Reliance Jio has accused other operators, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, of fraudulently disguise wireline numbers as mobile numbers for undue enrichment and urged Trai to slap "severest penalty" on them for violating norms.

Bharti Airtel, however, hit back saying Jio is trying to misguide the regulator ahead the consultation on call connect charges (also called interconnect usage charges).

In yet another letter to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio alleged that these illegal and fraudulent activities of "masquerading wireline numbers as mobile numbers" by offering mobile numbers to enterprises as their customer care or helpline numbers has not only caused it huge losses running into hundreds of crores, but also resulted in losses to the exchequer.

At the same time, it has led to undue enrichment of older operators, Jio said, asking Trai to take "immediate cognizance of these serious violations".

Jio's scathing attack comes at a ...