
New Delhi: Reliance Jio today lashed out at incumbent operators and industry body
COAI for their allegations that Trai's regulations are favouring the
newcomer, and demanded a public apology within 48 hours for the
"defamatory", "slanderous" and "libelous" accusations.
In a
strongly worded letter to COAI, Reliance Jio Ltd (RJIL) said that the
press release issued by the body on February 20, 2018 claiming that the
telecom regulator's orders put all but one operator at a serious
disadvantage was "intentionally, wrongfully and maliciously made to
induce disparaging and inimical opinions against Reliance Jio".
The
statement of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) "warrants
criminal and civil action for defamation", Jio said demanding a public
apology from the association and its Director General Rajan Mathews
within 48 hours.
It also alleged that the COAI has been "reduced
to becoming instrument and mouthpiece of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and
Idea", and termed these operators as Incumbent Dominant Operators.
"The
Press Release is motivated by the aim to devalue the esteem, regard and
confidence enjoyed by RJIL, thus causing injury to RJIL's repute among
the public and in the market," Jio said.
The full-blown face off
between the two sides comes just days after cellular operators under the
aegis of COAI alleged that the regulations by Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai) had distorted the market.
COAI had also
alleged that Trai's orders appeared "to be strengthening the ambitions
of one particular operator with deep pockets and monopolistic designs at
the expense of other operators" although it did not name Reliance Jio
which has hit the incumbent operators hard by its aggressive pricing of
mobile services, especially data tariffs.
The association had
also stated that majority of its members agreed with the assessment of
Trai's regulations, except Reliance Jio which had a divergent view on
the matter.
PTI