This also comes as a breather for Bharti Airtel, which had last week launched its Platinum plan last week for postpaid users. Trai on 11 July barred both Airtel and Vodafone Idea from offering differentiated 4G postpaid plans.

TDSAT observed that it is not necessary to put on hold Vodafone Idea’s RedX offer while the regulator investigated any violation of service norms and allowed Trai to proceed with the inquiry and take final decision in the matter.

According to the TDSAT order, Vodafone Idea alleged that Trai’s decision was “only to help the cause of Reliance Jio” and that the Mukesh Ambani-led company was not a necessary or even a proper party to the case. However, the tribunal has allowed Jio to be a party. Jio had pleaded that it will be directly impacted by the outcome of the case.

“No objection to impleadment has been raised on behalf of Trai,” Vodafone Idea said.

The tribunal, within two weeks, has sought detailed reply by Trai in case it wants to add to the earlier-filed short reply. Jio has also been asked to file a reply within two weeks.

In its short reply to Vodafone Idea’s appeal, Trai pointed out that the telco’s RedX plan is not transparent. Defending its decision to put on hold the plan, Trai said Vodafone Idea has attempted to “mask the information” related to the scheme instead of informing the authorities about making “a paradigm change in the way mobile data is offered”.

Trai also said Vodafone Idea has made “vague allegations” that its evaluation of the plan is based on a complaint from a rival, which it vehemently denied. “It is incorrect to say that the examination is on the basis of complaint from Jio,” Trai said.

However, in an application dated 13 July, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd had said it understands that the order passed by Trai was following a complained filed by the telco on 8 July. Jio has called the RedX plan discriminatory and misleading.

The regulator’s key concern against Vodafone Idea’s RedX and Airtel’s Platinum offer was over ‘priority on network’ services as wireless network per Base Transceiver Station (BTS) is fixed and depends on installed capacity of the BTS. Thus, any offer claiming faster data to some customers could reduce the speeds for others.

Bharti Airtel Ltd on 6 July had announced faster 4G data for all its platinum customers – postpaid users paying ₹499 or above. The Sunil Mittal-led telecom major had said it has deployed advanced technologies for its ‘Priority 4G Network’ that will give its platinum subscribers preference on the network.

Vodafone Idea had introduced its RedX plan in November for postpaid customers with a launch price of ₹999, offering up to 50% faster speeds and special services. The price of the plan was hiked by ₹100 in May.