Delhi HC rejects Vodafone's petition on interconnection usage charge

Vodafone moved the HC earlier in the year against consultation papers on IUCs floated by TRAI

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Vodafone against the consultation process adopted by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for fixing interconnection usage charges (IUCs) between cellular and fixed line operators.

IUCs are charges paid by operators of telecommunication services on whom the call originates to operators on whose end the call terminates. The charges are currently determined according to the Telecom Interconnection Usage Charges (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations 2015. The regulations fix a charge of 14 paise for mobile-to-mobile connections and zero paise for all other calls.

Vodafone had moved the high court earlier in the year against consultation papers on IUCs floated by Trai, in an attempt to make the regulator reveal the cost models gathered to determine the revised rates on the grounds of transparency. The petition had claimed that if the data was not shared with them, the entire consultation would be violative of the principles of natural justice in accordance with the Trai Act and other provisions of law.

In support of its argument, the company also cited a recent Supreme Court judgment on a previous Trai regulation on call drops, which had asked operators to compensate rivals for dropped calls - a decision the apex court ruled as arbitrary, unreasonable and non-transparent. 

Disagreeing with the stance of Vodafone and the other incumbents, Justice Vibhu Bakhru on Monday rejected the petition and has allowed Trai to continue its actions unimpeded. However, sources say that any final decision by the regulator will still be subject to challenge.