Mumbai Metro Seeks Extortionate Rent For Providing Mobile Connectivity To Commuters, Says Cellular Operators

The Cellular Operators Association of India on Sunday accused the Mumbai Metro of creating a monopoly on providing connectivity exclusively through a third party vendor and trying to extract monopolistic and extortionate rents for providing the mobile network. Telecom Service Providers are always willing to provide connectivity through In-Building Solutions, the association added.

"As per the new Telecommunication Act and Right of Way Rules, a public authority cannot deny providing Right of Way to Telecom Service Providers in a public place – which is exactly what  is being done by the Mumbai Metro", the association claimed. 

In order to minimize disruptions, telecom services providers had offered a  common network for facilitating mobile connectivity which has been ignored by the Mumbai Metro. Deploying of such networks are a norm, even in important places like the PWD tunnel in Pragati Maidan or the Central Vista, wherein the service providers are laying infrastructure without paying any cost to anyone including any third party, the association said.

Mumbai Metro is quoting precedence for appointing a third party vendor and denying Right of Way to service providers, it added. "It may be noted that wrong precedence does not make a legitimate one and the industry is separately addressing the issue of such monopolies being created, with a view to stop such extortionate practices", the association stated in the release.

Service providers are always willing to incur Capex for setting up network inside the Metro, despite any additional incremental revenue, the association said. However, paying extortionate rates to Mumbai Metro for such a network is not viable, it added.

It should be noted that services were being offered on a trial basis by all service providers, pending finalization of a formal agreement.

Furthermore, to support uninterrupted connectivity for Mumbai Metro commuters, service providers had proposed providing mobile connectivity Free of Cost without any payment to either the third party vendor or Mumbai Metro, until commercial terms could be mutually agreed upon, according to the association This was communicated through a joint letter by service providers dated April 7, 2025. However, this reasonable and consumer first proposal was ignored by the Mumbai Metro, it added.