Don't fix telecom tariffs

Telcos' demand for a floor price is a bad idea

Reeling under growing debt and a huge strain on profitability, several telecom operators got together last week to seek a floor price for voice and data tariff. Operators across the spectrum — from Vodafone (a multinational) to Idea Cellular (an Indian private sector firm) to BSNL (a state-owned firm) — sought the attention of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) as well as an inter-ministerial panel, set up to hasten the resolution of financial stress in this sector. The demand for a floor was based on the argument that Reliance Jio’s rock-bottom data tariffs, coupled with free voice calls