The Delhi High Court today issued notice against Idea Cellular for allegedly not complying with its earlier order on 3G roaming.
The court had earlier banned operators from offering 3G services to new customers in circles where it did not have spectrum.
The Department of Telecom had initiated contempt of court proceedings against Idea Cellular for allegedly selling 3G connections despite the ban order.
The DoT move followed a petition by Idea Cellular saying that while it has stopped giving new connections, there were some subscriber who had shown their intention of using 3G services prior to the Delhi High Court’s ban order. The company said in its affidavit that it will process all requests it received 90 days prior to April 13.
However, the DoT has objected to this on grounds that this tantamount to violation of the ban order.
According to the department, the High Court order clearly stated that no new connections is to be given post April 13 and Idea Cellular was taking cover under technicalities to continue giving 3G services in areas where it did not have spectrum.
On Monday, Justice Rajiv Shakdhar asked the telecom company to file the response within four weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on August 5.
Reacting to the notice, Idea Cellular said that it was in complete compliance with the April 12 order of the Delhi High Court and no new 3G subscribers have been added across Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, North East, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
“In fact, the company continues to lose existing 3G subscriber in these service areas since the date of the court order,” Idea Cellular said.