Mobility paves Samsung’s silver path
The Korean giant’s early bet on mobile phones helped it hit the $10-bn mark in India, but in its 25th year it ...
Cross-talk: TRAI and CCI are marking jurisdictional territory
A turf war is raging between the Competition Commission of India and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India over which agency will monitor anti-competitive tariffs in the telecom sector.
After the telecom regulator issued a consultation paper seeking industry comments on the issue, the Competition Commission asked the former to keep off the latter’s turf and refrain from laying down rules on predatory pricing by telecom service providers.
In a July 21 letter to TRAI Chairman RS Sharma, CCI Chairperson Devendra K Sikri said the “issues and questions for consultation relating to delineation of relevant market, assessment of dominance and predatory pricing” are “issues of determination for the Commission.”
Back in February, TRAI published a consultation paper on anti-competitive behaviour in tariff offers.
RJio’s advent stirs things upIndustry insiders believe this came about after Reliance Industries commercially launched the Jio network in September 2016 offering both data and voice services free for early subscribers.
The three incumbent telecom players took the fight to the government and to TRAI, alleging that Reliance Jio was indulging in predatory pricing to win market share.
TRAI’s consultation paper asked for the industry’s views so that it could lay down rules on predatory pricing, the need to restrict promotional offers, assess the dominant market position and evaluate whether “the dominant enterprise is resorting to pricing below average variable cost.” TRAI is expected to finalise its regulations in the coming weeks.
However, the CCI’s latest salvo could throw a spanner in TRAI’s plans. Clearly demarcating the jurisdictions of the two entities, CCI’s letter goes on to say that while the “sector regulator creates structural conditions for competition and orderly growth of a sector”, the competition regulator “addresses the adverse effect on competition emanating from the anti-competitive conduct of enterprises, including predatory pricing.”
It added that the sector regulator, meaning TRAI, may not have the “wherewithal for the determination of these issues, as such issues do not afford themselves to blanket prescriptions and the blunt instrument of regulation,” adding that market interactions need to be assessed on a case-to-case basis.
In June, the CCI had rejected a case of alleged predatory pricing against Reliance Jio filed by Airtel. In its ruling, the fair trade regulator said that merely giving access to free services was not in itself anti-competitive.
The Korean giant’s early bet on mobile phones helped it hit the $10-bn mark in India, but in its 25th year it ...
Antrix should adopt a different tactic than merely fighting over jurisdiction: Experts
Invest in relationships, enterprise, behaviour, effort and learning
From different types of osmoses to new membranes, researchers have come up with ways of drawing water
Only half the Sensex stocks have bettered the index’s return in the last 10,000-point journey
High valuation and stiff competition from larger players are a dampener
Investors with a short-term perspective can buy The New India Assurance Company (NIACL) stock at current ...
₹1490 • HDFC Bank S1S2R1R2COMMENT 1475146015051520 Fresh short positions are recommended with a stiff ...
What makes the new crop of young Indian cricketers such game-changing winners? Over and above their talent, ...
In these isolated times when people yearn for a slice of the familiar, amateur and professional chefs are ...
‘You ready to go to work?’ Joe Biden had asked Kamala Harris before naming her as his running mate. ‘Oh my ...
Writer Narendra’s latest book, rich with vignettes from Bastar and his native village in Uttar Pradesh, ...
Digital is becoming dominant media, but are companies and their ad agencies transforming fast enough to make a ...
Slow Network, promoted by journalist-lyricist Neelesh Misra, pushes rural products and experiences
How marketers can use the traditional exchange of festive wishes meaningfully
For Fortune, a brand celebrating its 20th anniversary, it was a rude shock to become the butt of social media ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor