New Delhi : Congress has questioned the unilateral tariff hike by three private telecom operators affecting about 109 crore mobile phone users in the country.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here today, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala disclosed that the hike will lead to a financial burden of about Rs 35 thousand crores on mobile customers.
“This is the first gift of the Modi 3.0 government to the people of the country”, he remarked.
He asked how could the Modi government turn a blind eye to such a substantial hike by three private operators which will put additional financial burden on every mobile customer in the country.
Surjewala also referred to the timing of the tariff hike that it was affected only after the completion of the General Elections, so that the Modi government was not questioned in case the tariffs were raised before the elections.
The Congress general secretary asked how could private mobile companies holding 92 percent market share be permitted to unilaterally raise the tariff to the tune of about Rs 35,000 crores without any oversight and regulation by the government.
He asked why the Modi government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) abdicated their duty and responsibility towards 109 cell phone users in the country who will be financially affected by this hike.
Observing that the hike was deliberately withheld till the conclusion of the parliamentary elections, he said, otherwise the Modi government would have been questioned for burdening 109 crore cell phone users in the country.
He also asked whether the Modi government or TRAI conducted any study on the issue.
Surjewala asked, how could all private cell companies increase their tariff uniformly between 15 to 20 percent despite the fact that their profitability and other factors vary.
