Telcos slam Trai penalty plan for financial report flaws

Trai has proposed turnover-linked penalties for filing incorrect, incomplete financial reports

- Jatin Grover

India’s telecom service providers have opposed the regulator's proposal to levy a turnover-linked penalty of up to 1% for filing incorrect or incomplete financial reports.

The government relies on these filings to verify operator revenues, compute statutory levies such as licence fees and spectrum usage charges, and intervene to ensure fair competition and protect consumer interest.

In submissions reviewed by Mint, the operators said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) proposed framework, which seeks to link monetary penalties to turnover, is disproportionate and would unfairly penalise inadvertent or minor errors.

“The proposed financial disincentive of up to 1% of turnover appears very stringent and should be reviewed by the Authority (Trai) to ensure it remains fair, proportionate, and consistent with the existing regulations,” Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said in its submissions to Trai earlier this month. COAI represents Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.

Queries emailed to Trai and COAI remained unanswered till press time.