New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Friday flayed the near-simultaneous cellphone tariff hike by the nation’s three leading telecom service providers, claiming that the move has burdened about 109 crore mobile phone users out of the 119 crore consumer base.
Smelling ‘conspiracy’ over the tariff hike by the top three telcos in one go, the Congress General Secretary said that this could not have been possible without the blessings of the Modi government, as he questioned the unilateral decision by the telcos to effect 15-20 per cent hike in tariffs from July 3.
The Congress leader accused the Central government of putting an additional burden of Rs 34,824 crore on 109 crore mobile users yearly, as he claimed that crony capitalism was ‘thriving’ in Modi 3.0, much like in its earlier terms.
Notably, there are about 119 crore mobile users in the country, and out of this, the top three firms, namely Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea, account for 109 crore subscribers.
“The cellphone market in India is an oligopoly – Reliance Jio (48 crore users), Airtel (39 crore users) and Vodafone Idea (22.37 crore users). Out of these, Jio and Airtel have a customer base of 87 crore, making them a virtual duopoly,” Surjewala claimed.
He also posed many questions to the Centre and sought to know why it didn’t oversee and regulate the pricing as it will affect 92 per cent mobile users in the country.
“Why did the Modi government and TRAI abdicate their duty and responsibility towards 109 crore cellphone users,” the Congress leader asked.
Surjewala, citing a TRAI report, said that the telecom firms earn Rs 152.55 per month from every user and an average 15 per cent hike in tariff will enhance their earnings manifold, and it’s the users who will be at the receiving end of the ‘collusion’ between the conglomerates.
Projecting annual earnings data of the top three telcos, Surjewala claimed that Reliance Jio’s average tariff hike of 20 per cent will see its yearly earnings jump by Rs 17,568 crore, Airtel with 15 per cent hike will stand to gain an additional Rs 10,704 crore annually, while Vodfaone-Idea with 16 per cent hike will pocket Rs 6,552 crore annually.
He also said that not only was the date of the announcement of tariff hikes by these companies the same, but also the date of effective implementation of the increased tariffs.
–IANS
mr/arm
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
