Though Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 6th April ordered Reliance Jio to withdraw the Summer Surprise offer, the company continued to entertain the plan till 10th April citing operation feasibility. The offer was also maintained on third party platforms like Paytm, Mobikwik, Freecharge, etc. Disgruntled by the Reliance Jio's decision, Vodafone on Monday complained to TRAI that Jio is still "luring customers" to subscribe to Summer Surprise plan.
In a letter to TRAI, Vodafone said "Reliance Jio is continuing with this offer held as not meeting regulatory norms, in the garb of configuration changes. For past three days, it has been promoting and luring customers to quickly recharge to avail the benefits of a non-compliant offer and also asking its retailers to communicate the same,"
Vodafone also mentioned about the alleged SMS messages sent by Jio to the customers and retailers persuading them to subscribe to the plan swiftly before it expires on 10th April.
The letter also explained the sad state affairs in the industry and how the blatant violation of the regulator's enforcement paints a bad picture to customers and other stakeholders.
"In our view, such promotion of the customers on an offer held as non-compliant is a blatant violation and disregard of TRAI's advisory. Such promotions to customers make (rpt) make the regulatory advisory meaningless," the letter said.
The letter concluded with a request for the intervention of TRAI to stop Reliance Jio from promulgating the offer any further. However, Reliance Jio had already withdrawn the offer from all of its portals yesterday.
"Considering above, we request for TRAI's immediate intervention and issuance of suitable directions to Reliance Jio for withdrawing the said offer on an immediate basis and notifying the consumers about the withdrawal of said offer from the date of advisory received from TRAI," the letter concluded.
Reliance Jio should have taken a nod from TRAI before introducing the plan to avoid inconvenience to the customers. TRAI should design a robust framework to evade any such mishaps or the ongoing tussle among Telecos will not end in near future.
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