Telcos fined Rs 3.2 cr in penalties for call drops, maximum on Voda Idea

Penalty of around Rs 3.2 crore has been imposed on telecom operators for call drop between September 2018 - June 2019, according to the data shared by Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre in Parliament on Thursday.

According to the data shared, highest financial disincentive of Rs 1.76 crore has been imposed on Vodafone Idea, which includes Rs 1.11 crore on account of call drop in Vodafone network and Rs 65 lakh on Idea, while minimum penalty of Rs 6.5 lakh was levied on Reliance Jio.

Financial disincentive of Rs 47.5 lakh has been imposed on government-owned telecom firm BSNL, Rs 56 lakh on Tata Teleservices, Rs 34 lakh on Bharti Airtel.

Dhotre in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha said that in the July-September 2019 period only BSNL did not meet the benchmark of minimum number of mobile tower functional in service area, while the rest of telecom operators were found compliant to the rules.

BSNL also failed to meet network availability criteria in West Bengal and Vodafone Idea in Jammu and Kashmir circle, he added.