Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao (pictured) warned cutting mobile termination fees in India would unfairly benefit Reliance Jio over operators which had made long-term investments to develop the country’s infrastructure.

In a letter to India’s minister of communication Manoj Sinha, reported by Financial Times, Colao urged the government to resist pressure from Reliance Jio to cut the charges below the current level – which he said already stood below the cost of processing incoming calls.

Market newcomer Reliance Jio frequently hit out at the policies of India’s largest operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular over what the company perceives as unfair business practices. In recent months the company made a number of statements proposing the scrapping of termination charges within the country.

Following an event hosted by regulator TRAI in July, news website Live Mint reported the newcomer outlined its case for eliminating the charge as – it said – the cost of connecting the calls was almost zero. It added eliminating the fee would allow operators to reduce consumer prices.

At the same meeting, its rivals said reducing the fee would result in a decline in investment and instead proposed increasing the charge.