Mobile Battles Get Uglier, Heavy Floods In Parts of India and Other Top News

War of Words: The battle between newcomer Reliance Jio and the other telecom operators just went up a notch. The older telcos, represented by the Cellular Operators Association of India or COAI, has written to the prime minister’s office, alleging that the “beta tests” by Jio are generating enough traffic to be considered a full fledged service and the testing is an excuse to avoid paying the government its due share of revenue. Not one to take things lying down, Jio has threatened legal action against the COAI for maligning it and damaging its interests. And the telecom regulator and the communications ministry are caught in the middle of this volley of words.

Delayed: Meanwhile, the spectrum auction, touted as India’s biggest ever, may be delayed to ensure it falls in a period that’s considered auspicious for Hindus. The 9-day festival which celebrates, among other things, the goddess of wealth, will begin on Oct. 1, a few days after the current scheduled auction date of Sept. 29. This may also be prompted by the fact that the unusually high reserve price set by the government is putting off bidders.

If it gives them good comfort to bid and spend more money to buy the spectrum, we are willing to change it to the first week," Telecom Secretary JS Deepak.

Spinning Off: PayTM is spinning off its e-commerce business into a separate company as it tries to make it easier to raise funds. One97, which owns PayTM, has already set up a new company called PayTM E-commerce, which will now run the marketplace, while the original PayTM will continue as a mobile payment company, soon to be morphed into a mobile bank. With Alibaba firming up its India plans, it may well be positioning itself as an easy pick for its e-commerce ambitions.

Tightening the noose: The Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes, is slowly tightening the web around absconding industrialist Vijay Mallya. It has now registered yet another case, this time for loan default of more than 60 billion rupees. Of course, with Mallya still out of the country and showing no signs of returning, these cases remain on paper and the likelihood of money recovery remains bleak.

Floods in central India: Villages in parts of central and northern India are being evacuated as the rivers have risen above the danger level and waters have now entered the cities. Three hundred people are dead and 6 million more have been affected by the floods, highlighting the flip side of a good monsoon.

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