New Delhi, 18th October, 2011: Private Operators continue to suffer in the hands of BSNL as the state owned telecom service provider continued disconnections in the face of TDSAT orders clearly instructing the organisation to act otherwise.

BSNL has once again defied the ruling of the appellate tribunal and disconnected PoI’s of the private operators in the Maharashtra & Goa circle on Friday, 14th October 2011, claiming non-payment of intra-circle carriage charges.

The private operators led by the Cellular Operators Association of India have been approaching and urging BSNL to restore connectivity at all Points of Interconnection (PoI) that had been discontinued from service illegally by BSNL.

The TDSAT Order which was passed on 30th September 2011 had clearly stated that the operators shall continue to pay intra-circle carriage charges to BSNL at the same rate which they have been paying since July, 2010; and further indicated that pursuant to compliance of this direction, the disconnections by BSNL may be restored. All private operators have agreed to abide by this judgement of TDSAT.

Despite having faced public outrage in several areas recently on having disconnected emergency services causing harassment to the users and having to restore them thereafter; it is pretty disappointing to see BSNL resorting to the same coercive ways again showing complete disregard for both the customers and the TDSAT.

Mr. Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI commented, “We expect BSNL to act responsibly in the interest of consumers and take serious consideration of the extreme hardships of the customers due to misguided technicality. The private operators have been paying their dues completely as per TRAI’s regulations and such discriminatory action on part of BSNL is unwarranted. ”

About COAI:
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-profit, non-governmental society dedicated to the advancement of communication, particularly modern communication through Cellular Mobile Telephone Services. With a vision to establish and sustain a world-class cellular infrastructure and facilitate affordable mobile communication services in India, COAI's main objectives are to protect the common & collective interests of its members. (http://www.coai.in/).