Airtel, Idea reject MNP plea, face action

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Delhi’s chief metropolitan court on Wednesday summoned the top executives of Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Loop Mobile for violating mobile number portability (MNP) regulations.

The notices were issued on a TRAI complaint that seeks prosecution of the accused firms for rejecting subscribers’ requests for MNP. The court asked them to appear on May 25.

The accused include, Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor; Director, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Jyoti Pawar; and vice president regulatory affairs and mobile services Ashwani Rana.

Idea Cellular MD Himanshu Kapania and chief corporate affairs officer Rajat Mukarji; and Loop Mobile MD Sandip Basu and chief regulatory officer Harish Kapoor were also issued summons.

These operators were under regulator’s ire for several months for flouting MNP guidelines. Finally, TRAI was compelled to take legal recourse, and it filed separate pleas against these firms.