As per a PTI story, a TDSAT bench headed by Justice Arun Kumar told Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) “What are you watching. This is not a simple bird watching. You have to intervene.” This is in response to a petition filed by Telecom Watchdog, an NGO, against the tariff hike by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, alleging that the three telcos have formed a cartel, with a 20 percent increase in tariffs, and a 20-32 percent increase in ISD calls. I thought this decision had preempted TRAIs recommendations on spectrum pricing, which increases cost of spectrum for some of these operators in certain circles. That theory fell through when Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said that they were looking at further increasing call rates.

Some comparison of rates between Delhi and Chennai, from Telecom Watchdog: Airtel charges Rs 0.99 for local call in Chennai, and Rs 1.20 in Delhi, while it’s Rs 0.05 per SMS in Chennai and Rs 1.20 in Delhi.