NEW DELHI: Already facing flak for violating principles of net neutrality, dominant telecom operators could also draw the ire of Competition Commission of India (CCI). The competition regulator is examining concerns of alleged anti-competitive practices arising from launch of data access plans allowing companies to offer apps for free, a practice that effectively means the app maker will pay for the customer's free usage to the operator.

Critics say such exclusive partnerships by telecom companies with e-commerce players, social media apps and others will not only compel users to sign up for restrictive data plans but also kill any new start-ups that don't have enough resources to tie-up with big telecom companies.

"We are examining competition concerns that have come up in the light of ongoing debate on net neutrality and telecom companies providing uneven data access to users. We'll need market evidence to conclude the matter," a top CCI official said. The matter was discussed in detail on Wednesday by the commission.

The commission could intervene on its own if any dominant player erected an artificial barrier to prevent others from entering the market, the official added. Such data platforms, according to some industry experts, violate net neutrality as they offer access to some apps and not equally to all apps. Experts say apps should be made accessible to users on a non-discriminatory basis, not just a few. "A start-up that has quality product category could find it very difficult merely because consumers have to pay to the telecom operator to access the service. An established company with deep pockets can tie-up with the telecom operator and make the service free for consumers," said a senior competition lawyer, requested not to be named.

Bharti Airtel recently announced the launch of a plan called Airtel Zero which will be a platform where companies can offer apps for free.

However, Airtel maintained that its platform is open and does not discriminate between companies or apps on access or charges for signing on for this service.

"The lack of guidelines from (telecom regulator) TRAI allowed formation of an increasing number of such partnerships. This will clearly change the playing field and can do a lot of damage to innovation and the start-up ecosystem," another lawyer from a leading corporate law firm said.

In February, Reliance Communications tied up with Facebook to launch Internet.org in India, which provided access to 33 websites free of charge.

Uninor also offered free usage of WhatsApp for 1 a day and 0.5 per hour for Facebook last year.