TRAI has stated that there is no cartelisation by the private players in the long distance telephony sector. This was in response to communication minister Dayanidhi Maran's statement rejecting the demands for compensation by the three telecom majors Bharti, Reliance Infocomm and VSNL saying these three operators are forming a cartel to prevent any competition in long distance telephony. The operators said that they are being penalised for making huge investments in the NLD and ISD segments and this would affect future investments as well. These three operators had approached DoT seeking compensation of over Rs 28 billion on the proposed reduction in the licence fee by the government for NLD and ILD licences. Maran said allowing new and more players in the NLD and ILD sector would cause reduction in STD and ISD charges and this would benefit consumers.