Vodafone withdraw its plea against DoT from HC

It alleged that the Centre is indulging in 'arm-twisting' and 'coercive' tactics by refusing to sign its unified licence

Vodafone today withdrew from the Delhi High Court its plea alleging the Centre is indulging in "arm-twisting" and "coercive" tactics by refusing to sign its unified licence (UL) till the telecom major unconditionally accepts the "restrictive" clauses in the licence.

The petition was withdrawn after a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul agreed with the Centre that as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act there was an alternative remedy available before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

"Writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn," the court said and gave liberty to Vodafone to approach TDSAT.

During the brief arguments, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for Department of Telecommunications (DoT), said that as per TRAI Act, Vodafone is a licensee and thus should have moved TDSAT.

Vodafone had contended in its plea that DoT instead of signing and executing the ULs had at the last moment informed them that their request for deletion of "restrictive" clauses in licence pertaining to roaming cannot be accepted.

Vodafone had submitted that the clauses in the UL take away the rights already granted to it and upheld by TDSAT on April 29, 2014.

TDSAT had on April 29 overturned a government ban on offering 3G mobile services beyond their licensed zones through roaming pacts saying it was in national interest to allow better utilisation of scarce radio frequency.

The telecom major had sought orders declaring the "restrictive clauses" as illegal and their deletion from UL.

The telecom company had accused DoT of "adopting coercive steps" saying "if UL is not signed in a timely manner, then the existing 22 million subscribers in three service areas - Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata - of the petitioners, being provided services under existing unified access service licence (UASL), will face disruption of services after November 29, 2014."

Vodafone's UASL for these service areas is set to expire on November 29.