Airtel, Idea fail to gain stay on IUC cut

India’s Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have failed to secure a court injunction on a  recent regulatory decision to slash and eventually abolish the interconnection usage charge (IUC).

The two operators petitioned the Bombay High Court seeking an order to halt the implementation of

regulator Trai’s order to reduce the IUC to 6 paise ($0.001) per minute from the current 14 paise.

But the court declined to grant the stay  before the cut took effect yesterday. The court has nevertheless agreed to hear the operators’ arguments against the cut next month.

Trai revealed last month  that the IUC will be cut starting this month, and will be abolished altogether from the start of 2020.

The move has the potential to cost incumbent operators up to a combined 50 billion rupees ($765.5 million) in revenue annually, and to benefit newcomer Reliance Jio by the same amount, although Jio has denied that it stands to gain from the decision.