The Hindu Business Line : TRAI asks Airtel to withdraw 2-in-1 plan

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked Bharti Airtel to discontinue its 2-in-1 plan, which enabled mobile users to take the benefit of both the pre-paid card and post paid billing system.

The telecom regulator said the tariff plan was violating the National Numbering Plan as subscribers are made to prefix the numbers 1290 and # (hash) before making any local or long distance telephone calls.

Dialling # (hash) distorts the monitoring process carried out by the Government as such numbers are difficult to be recorded. Earlier, the Department of Telecom had sent a note to the company to clarify the violation of the numbering plan.

Airtel 2-in-1 was useful for users who want to control their STD/ISD spend by tying it with a prepaid account. This allowed them to make long distance calls without paying any security deposits.

Other instances

This is not the first time TRAI has asked operators to pull out tariff plans or schemes. Earlier, Tata Teleservices had got into trouble with its Walky services as the company was positioning it as a mobile phone. Reliance Communication (formerly Reliance Infocomm) had also run into rough weather with its Home Country Direct service.

While mobile operators have been given the freedom to fix tariffs, TRAI intervenes if it is predatory in nature or violates licence norms.

Airtel has, meanwhile, notified all its 2-in-1 subscribers about the withdrawal of the scheme. The company has asked the subscribers to use up the balance value on the pre-paid card.

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