Business & Economy

Reliance offers to pay up
and end spat with BSNL

What is India News Service, Saturday, 9 October 2004, 1900 hrs IST

Reliance Infocomm has agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 200 crore to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to end a spat between the two telecom giants.

BSNL had said overseas calls routed from the Reliance network were being masked as local calls in order to shortchange the state-owned telephony major on its portion of the call costs.

Reliance has acknowledged that a few unscrupulous players had been operating illegal exchanges to route illegal international long distance (ILD) traffic as local calls and avoid paying the full connectivity charges.

The move comes in the wake of threats from the heads of secondary switching areas (SSA) of BSNL to cut off calls from Reliance Infocomm subscribers. 

The SSA is the termination point of long distance calls before it passes on to the local exchange and to the subscribers.


Rediff feature: Chidambaram goes to New York

Air fares hiked by 10 pc: The unprecedented increase in the prices of the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) today forced three majors to announce an across-the-board hike of 10 per cent in their air fares from October 14.

Inflation dips to 7.38%: The rate of inflation dipped by 0.42 per cent to 7.38 per cent for the week ended September 25.

FII remains net buyer in STT regime: The enforcement of transaction tax with the start of this month has not dampened the mood of domestic and foreign players in the market.

Farmers hold back cotton stocks: To avoid exploitation, cotton growers have started holding back their produce after the prices fell sharply due to low demand.

Air chief leads 'marketing mission' to Chile: Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, along with a team of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), started efforts to sell the indigenously manufactured Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) to Chile during his visit there starting Friday.

NTPC selling hot: The initial public offering of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) continued to draw a large number of investors.  

Govt tightens metal scrap import norms: The government on Saturday tightened norms for import of metal waste and scrap, particularly from a country affected by war, in order to address concerns over import of hazardous material, which were heightened by the recent blast in a steel factory in Ghaziabad.

India appoints London firm to fight DPC legal battle: Government has appointed UK-based solicitor firm Watson, Farley & Williams, for putting up legal defence against GE and Bechtel, which have filed $6 billion claims against the Indian government for investment losses in the failed Dabhol power project.


Overall:

Telecom spat reached an end: Reliance will pay BSNL a settlement sum and end a quarrel over overseas calls.

Farmers held back cotton stocks: The fall in price has left them in dire straits.

India appointed London legal firm: The government is fighting a battel with GE and Bechtel over the failed Dabhol power plant.