Jio accuses Airtel, Vi of capitalising on farmers' protests by showing it as beneficiary of new farm laws

Amid the farmers' protest in the national capital Delhi over the government's farm bills, Reliance Jio has approached the Telecom Regulator Authority of India (TRAI), saying that its rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India have resorted to "unethical" means by "capitalising on the ongoing farmer protest in the northern parts of the country".

In a letter to TRAI, Jio has blamed both its major rivals of spreading false rumours that the Mukesh Ambani-led company will benefit from the recent farm bills. As per the company, it has received a large number of port-out requests have, wherein the customers have cited that it is the sole reason for porting out of Jio, although they don't have any complaints or other issues related to its services.

Jio has sought strict action against Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for "unethical practices" and "unscrupulous violations" and to stop campaigns under which "false propaganda is being spread across the country. The telco said its letter was in furtherance of its letter of September 28, 2020 "highlighting the unethical and anti-competitive MNP (mobile number portability) campaign being run by Airtel and VIL to capitalise on the ongoing farmer protests in northern parts of the country."

"We submit that despite the above submissions, these companies continue to remain directly/indirectly involved in supporting and furthering the insinuations and false and frivolous rumours of Reliance being an undue beneficiary of the farm laws, for unethical pecuniary benefits in the form of induced porting of RJIL customers," the letter read.

The company claimed that both the rivals are inciting the public by making preposterous claims that migrating Jio mobile numbers to their networks would be an act of support to farmers' protests.

"We reiterate that in order to reap meagre gains in port-in numbers, these service providers are intentionally defacing RJIL by depicting it as being against farmers and projecting themselves as farmer friendly, while at the same time intentionally fanning the anti- government protests," the letter read further.

The letter was accompanied by pictures of "misleading and inciteful campaign" across Punjab and other northern states.

In response to Jio's complaint, Airtel has written to TRAI described the complaint as "outrageous" and "scurrilous".

"Airtel has operated in the telecom industry for 25 years. During this period, we have competed hard in the market place and striven to serve our customers with excellence. At the same time we take great pride in treating our competitors and partners with respect," Airtel said in its letter.

"It is in poor taste and is scurrilous to say the least," Airtel added, seeking dismissal of the complaint.