Letter by Shri E A S Sarma, Former Secretary to the Government of India to the Secretary, Department of Telecommunications
The governments at Centre have created duopoly of Airtel and Jio in the field of mobile telephone services by deliberately crippling BSNL and MTNL, two public sector telecom enterprises. BSNL was denied licence for 4G to allow the two private duopolies to take away BSNL’s customers. Jio was allowed to have predatory (very low) pricing for various mobile services to kill the competitors. The result is that now people are at the mercy of these two private telecom companies and they are able to raise prices at their will.
Shri Amit Agrawal 05/07/2026
Secretary
Dept of Telecommunications
Govt of India
Dear Shri Agrawal,
I have come across reports to the effect that Airtel and Jio will soon escalate customer tariffs by 20% on the ground that they are not getting reasonable returns from their investments.
In the past, I had cautioned your department and TRAI to institute a regulatory mechanism to safeguard the interests of customers against the duopolistic control of the telecom market by these two companies. I have extracted a copy of that letter here.
It is not as though the two companies are not earning profits at the present levels of tariffs, as shown below.
Net profit (Rs/Crores)
|
Year |
Airtel |
Jio |
|
2025-26 |
33,823 |
30,053 |
|
2024-25 |
37,481 |
24,795 |
|
2023-24 |
8,558 |
20,466 |
|
2022-23 |
12,287 |
16,899 |
|
2021-22 |
8,305 |
14,817 |
DOT cannot afford to be a passive spectator to telecom companies fleecing their customers, without enhancing the quality of their services. I may point out here that, as a result of DOT’s insensitivity to customers’ problems, there has been a deterioration in the technical quality of service on the part of these companies.
May I demand that DOT empowers TRAI to impose tariff norms on these companies so as to safeguard the customers’ interests?
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
5-7-2026
My previous letter
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
To
Shri A K Lahoti
Chairman
TRAI
Dear Shri Lahoti,
I write this letter in continuation of my earlier letter of July 10th, 2024 on how unilateral tariff hikes by the two telecom service providers, without any regulation whatsoever either by TRAI or the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) has adversely affected the interests of millions of customers across the country (https://countercurrents.org/2024/07/the-two-telecom-companies-have-unilaterally-hiked-tariffs-to-raise-additional-profits-of-over-rs-100000-crores-per-year-should-not-trai-raise-its-voice/)
Neither TRAI nor DOT has not only failed to safeguard the interests of customers but it looks as though the telecom service operators have your tacit approval for their anti-customer decisions.
The latest reports suggest that, encouraged by TRAI/DOT’s inaction, Bharti Airtel, one of the two companies is on the verge of hiking up tariffs once again (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/bharti-airtel-md-gopal-vittal-backs-another-tariff-hike-heres-what-he-said/articleshow/114727835.cms)
According to recent reports (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/earnings/bharti-airtel-q2-results-net-profit-soars-168-yoy-to-rs-3593-crore-revenue-jumps-12/articleshow/114690626.cms), Airtel’s net profit for the quarter ending in September 2024 jumped 168% to Rs 3,593 Crores compared to its profit for the corresponding period last year and the company still wishes to multiply its profits, not by cost-cutting, but by fleecing its customers.
It is unfortunate that both TRAI and DOT have become mute (or willing?) actors in this continuing plunder of millions of customers who are left with no one to look to for relief, as it is DOT that is directly responsible for creating such a monopolistic situation.
May I appeal to you to act once on behalf of the customers and putastop to this open loot?
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Visakhapatnam
2nd November 2024