The Supreme Court has declined any interim relief to telecom companies against the Delhi High Court’s order upholding TRAI’s decision making it mandatory for them to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 1, 2016. The telecoms said a “100 per cent call drop-free network” is impossible under the Law of Physics and will cost them hundreds of crores in compensation payable to customers every month.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on the other hand, maintained that its Telecom Consumers Protection (9th Amendment) Regulations, 2015 — which was upheld by the Delhi High Court last month — was framed purely in the interest of the common man. The petition has been filed jointly by the Cellular Operators Association of India, and telecom majors such as Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Telenor.

The high court had earlier this week, upheld October 16, 2015 decision of TRAI making it mandatory for cellular operators to pay consumers one rupee per call drop experienced on their networks, subject to a cap of Rs 3 a day.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) — the lobby group for GSM carriers, including Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone — plans to approach Trai to hold off from implementing its order.

The telecom companies have argued in the past that the additional compensation would cost them as much as Rs 54,000 crore a year, forcing them to limit network rollouts as the industry was operating under immense cost pressure.