Airtel moved telecom tribunal TDSAT seeking a directive to rival Tata Teleservices on payment of Rs 287 crore towards termination charges for SMSes. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) issued notice to TTSL and directed it to file its reply within two weeks. 

Meanwhile, the tribunal has also asked Bharti Airtel to file rejoinder over the reply filed by TTSL within a week and directed to list the matter on November 24 for an interim order. 

Termination charges are paid by an operator from whose network calls or SMSes originate to the one on whose network these communications end. These charges impact tariffs. 

During the proceedings, counsel appearing for Bharti Airtel alleged that TTSL was not paying their due SMS termination charges from 2009 despite several reminders. 

Senior advocate Maninder Singh representing Airtel said that it has submitted its share on SMS termination charges twice, which was acknowledged by TTSL. 

"We have paid them continuously. They accepted the sum and later returned it back," he said. 

This was opposed by TTSL''s counsel Ramji Srinivasan and said there was a system of "bill and keep" in the sector and every player was following that norms. 

"Every one keeps a track on the SMS received and forwarded but there was no transaction," he said, adding that now Bharti Airtel is suddenly saying that as per the agreement between them, TTSL would have to pay. 

He further informed the tribunal that yesterday TRAI has filed an affidavit in a sealed cover before the Supreme Court on the issue of SMS termination charges and all are waiting for that.