Smelling "conspiracy" over tariff hike by the three major telecom companies in one go, the Congress General Secretary said this could not have been possible without the blessings of the Modi government, and questioned the unilateral decision of Telecommunications companies to apply 15-20 percent increase in tariffs starting July 3.
The Congress leader accused the central government of imposing an additional burden of Rs 34,824 crore to Rs 109 crore annually as he claimed that crony capitalism was "thriving" in Modi 3.0, just like in his previous terms.
Notably, there are around 119 million mobile users in the country and of them, the top three companies, namely Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea, account for 109 million subscribers.
“The mobile phone market in India is an oligopoly: Reliance Jio (48 million users), Airtel (39 million users) and Vodafone Idea (22.37 million users). Of them, Jio and Airtel have a customer base of 87 crore, making them a virtual duopoly,” Surjewala said.
He also raised many questions with the Center and wanted to know why it was not monitoring or regulating the prices as they will affect 92 per cent of mobile users in the country.
"Why did the Modi government and TRAI abdicate their duty and responsibility towards 109 million mobile phone users?" the Congress leader asked.
Surjewala, citing a TRAI report, said telecom companies earn Rs 152.55 per month from each user and an average tariff hike of 15 per cent will improve their profits manifold, and it is the users who will be the culprits. recipients of "collusion." 'among the conglomerates.
Projecting the annual profit data of the top three telecom companies, Surjewala claimed that Reliance Jio's average tariff hike of 20 per cent will see its annual profit increase by Rs 17,568 crore, Airtel with a 15 per cent increase will earn an additional Rs 10,704 crore annually. while Vodfaone-Idea, with a 16 percent increase, will pocket Rs 6,552 million annually.
He also said that it was not only the same date of the announcement of tariff increases by these companies, but also the date of effective implementation of the tariff increase.
The Congress leader accused the central government of imposing an additional burden of Rs 34,824 crore to Rs 109 crore annually as he claimed that crony capitalism was "thriving" in Modi 3.0, just like in his previous terms.
Notably, there are around 119 million mobile users in the country and of them, the top three companies, namely Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea, account for 109 million subscribers.
“The mobile phone market in India is an oligopoly: Reliance Jio (48 million users), Airtel (39 million users) and Vodafone Idea (22.37 million users). Of them, Jio and Airtel have a customer base of 87 crore, making them a virtual duopoly,” Surjewala said.
He also raised many questions with the Center and wanted to know why it was not monitoring or regulating the prices as they will affect 92 per cent of mobile users in the country.
"Why did the Modi government and TRAI abdicate their duty and responsibility towards 109 million mobile phone users?" the Congress leader asked.
Surjewala, citing a TRAI report, said telecom companies earn Rs 152.55 per month from each user and an average tariff hike of 15 per cent will improve their profits manifold, and it is the users who will be the culprits. recipients of "collusion." 'among the conglomerates.
Projecting the annual profit data of the top three telecom companies, Surjewala claimed that Reliance Jio's average tariff hike of 20 per cent will see its annual profit increase by Rs 17,568 crore, Airtel with a 15 per cent increase will earn an additional Rs 10,704 crore annually. while Vodfaone-Idea, with a 16 percent increase, will pocket Rs 6,552 million annually.
He also said that it was not only the same date of the announcement of tariff increases by these companies, but also the date of effective implementation of the tariff increase.
