Reliance Jio Infocomm on Monday, 14 December, has written to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and has sought action against rivals Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, amid farmers' protests against the three contentious farm laws.
Jio, in its complaint, stated that Vodafone and Airtel are spreading “false” rumours that the Mukesh Ambani-led company will benefit from the recent farm bills.
“Unethical and anti-competitive mobile number portability (MNP) campaigns” are being run by Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel amid the protests, the company alleged, reported NDTV.
According to the company, many Jio users have recently requested for porting their numbers out of Jio. The customers haven’t listed any complaints or other issues related to its services reported The News Minute.
Reliance Jio’s letter comes in furtherance of its letter dated 28 September 2020.
“Highlighting the unethical and anti-competitive MNP (mobile number portability) campaign being run by Airtel and VIL to capitalise on the ongoing farmer protests in northern parts of the country”.Reliance Jio letter, as quoted by NDTV
Jio alleges that Airtel and Vodafone are directly/indirectly involved in supporting and furthering the insinuations and “false and frivolous rumours” of Reliance being an undue beneficiary of the farm laws.
Jio added that Airtel and Vodafone are pursuing a vicious campaign against Reliance through their retailers, employees and agents.
“They are inciting the public by making preposterous claims that migrating Jio mobile numbers to their networks would be an act of support to farmers'' protests," stated the letter issued on 10 December.
Airtel Denies Allegations
Bharti Airtel, in its statement, said that "Airtel has operated in the telecom industry for 25 years. During this period, we have competed hard in the market place and striven to serve our customers with excellence. At the same time, we take great pride in treating our competitors and partners with respect."
It added that the complaint against Airtel should be dismissed and thrown out with the “contempt that it deserves. It is in poor taste and is scurrilous, to say the least".
The company also said that Bharti Airtel conducts its business with character and transparency.
Vodafone Rubbishes Claims
Vodafone Idea has also rubbished the claims made by Reliance Jio.
“Vodafone believes in doing business with ethics. These are baseless allegations against us to malign our reputation. We strongly refute such irresponsible comments on us," the statement read.
(With inputs from TNM and NDTV)
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