Angry BSNL locks out private operators in Haryana

Displeased over not being paid for the carrier charges by the private operators in the city, state-owned BSNL (Bharatiya Sanchar Nigam Limited) has locked them out, according to a report in Daily Bhaskar. What does this mean?  Customers of the private operators in the city like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, among others will not be able to call on BSNL networks in the city. While disconnecting ‘points of interconnect’ by BSNL will not affect STD calls, those in the city will not be able to access emergency numbers for their mobile phones, like that of the Police (100), Fire (101), Ambulance (102).

In a row with private players

This incident comes after BSNL had locked out private operators in Punjab, in a similar fashion making crucial services like the ones mentioned above inaccessible to the common man.Operators like Reliance Communications and Idea had then approached the Disputes Settlement Appelant Tribunal (DSAT), which then brought in TDSAT into the picture with success. As per the reports, however, no appeal has been filed in Haryana.