New Delhi: In a judgment that comes as a major relief to telecom operators even as it hits the users, the Supreme Court today held as arbitrary and unconstitutional a decision by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in October last year  imposing a compensation for call drops.

The decision came on an appeal by the the telcos after their petition in the Delhi High Court was dismissed in December last against the directive of compensation of Rs one for every call drop, limited to a maximum of three such calls per day. The TRAI order of October last year was to come into effect from 1 January.

The Apex Court said the order was "illegal and not transparent".

Talking to newspersons outside the court, telecom operators counsel Kapil Sibal said: "(The) SC has rendered historic judgement today by striking down Trai s regulation."

"The court said the regulation was unreasonable, arbitrary and the procedure followed was not transparent," he added.