DoT's Rs 3,050-crore penalty order drags down Airtel, Vodafone stocks

Underperformance may continue on price hike delay, launch of JioPhone

Stocks of telecom service providers Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and Vodafone Idea (VI) were down by 2.2 and 4.2 per cent respectively on Friday. The stocks were reacting to notices by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to the companies asking them to pay Rs 3,050 crore in cumulative penalties within three weeks.

The DoT order follows a recommendation made five years ago by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India imposing a penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Vodafone, Idea and Airtel for allegedly denying inter-connectivity to Reliance Jio. While an Airtel spokesperson indicated that the company would challenge the demand and