Continuing its pressure on wireless in local loop operators whose tariffs do not meet the criteria specified by it, telecom regulator TRAI has sought clarifications from Tata Teleservices though the company maintained that its WLL tariffs have not been put on hold.

"We received a letter late last evening from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India seeking certain clarifications but our WLL tariffs have not been put on hold," a Tata Teleservices spokesperson told PTI in New Delhi.

Tata Teleservices, the spokesperson said, would reply to TRAI "very shortly".

TRAI's ongoing scrutiny of WLL tariffs against the benchmarks set by it saw operators such as Reliance, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd queuing up at TRAI office on Thursday for clarifications.

TRAI has said it sought clarifications from various operators, whose tariffs were found to be non-compliant with Inter-connect Usage Charges regime that came into force from Thursday.

TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal told PTI on Thursday that he hoped to resolve the issue soon upon getting the required information, but he did not divulge the details.

At the heart of the WLL tariff wrangle are underlying principles of non-discrimination, non-predatory pricing and IUC compliance, which TRAI says must be adhered to by the operators in filing their tariffs.

The Tata Teleservices spokesperson did not comment on the specific aspects of the company's WLL tariffs, which had prompted TRAI to seek clarifications.

Recently, TRAI said that since it was in the process of examining the cellular and WLL tariffs of various operators, for the month of May it would allow them to implement tariffs without prior approval and at their responsibility, on the condition that they meet certain general regulatory principles.

It said operators should themselves withdraw the tariffs, which are not IUC compliant (meaning tariffs, which do not allow margins for payment of IUC rates) and cellular operators should ensure that from May 1 no tariff is levied on incoming calls.

Among other conditions specified, TRAI directed the operators to withdraw those tariffs, which are discriminatory (tariffs, which discriminate between operators within the same class of service in terms of pulse duration or pulse usage).

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