Trai rejects telecom cos floor price proposal, says 'not a workable idea'

Clarified there was a consensus that there is no need to persue this idea of floor price anymore

The Indian telecom regulator on Friday turned down the proposal of incumbent telecom players to fix a floor price for both voice and data services and said it did not seem to be a 'workable idea'.

"We had a detailed discussion (with industry stakeholders) for two hours. Fixing a floor price was not a workable idea. Prices will continue under the principles of forbearance like now," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman R S Sharma told reporters after the meeting.

He further clarified that there was a consensus that there is no need to persue this idea of floor price anymore.

On June 15, the telecom industry stakeholders had suggested to TRAI to fix floor prices for voice and data.

"The operators today have discussed the idea of creating a floor price for voice and data services. The rationale behind it was that no operator can offer data and voice services below that price," Sharma had said earlier.