New Delhi, Jan 16: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today issued showcause notices to private cellular operators including Bharti, Hutchison-Essar, Idea and BPL for defying its directive to provide interconnectivity to basic telecom players offering limited mobile services.

"As per the notice, a time period of 72 hours will be given to these companies to give reasons for defying the authority`s directive followed by a personal hearing expected on Monday," Trai officials said. The notices follow repeated directives by Trai to these cellular companies for immediate interconnectivity with basic telecom players.

Trai officials said that the showcause notices marked the initiation of punitive action against these companies which may be upto Rs one lakh fine for the first violation and Rs two lakh for subsequent act of violation.
This could further increase to upto Rs two lakh fine everyday.

Bureau Report