The telecom department has directed all circle heads to treat Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices as separate entities, as it is in the process of challenging their merger in the Supreme Court, according to an official source.

The department of telecom has also asked all its entities to deal customer acquisition process and all compliance related issues of both the companies as separate companies.

“The department has written to all telecom circles heads on November 6 that it has not yet taken on record the transfer or merger of the demerged undertakings of TTSL to Bharti Airtel and Bharti Hexacom and transfer or merger of the demerged undertakings of TTML to Bharti Airtel,” an official source said.

Bharti Airtel on July 1 announced that the consumer mobile business of Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) has now become its part.

“The DoT has written that it is in process of two separate special leave petitions before the Supreme Court,” the source said.

The department in the communication to circle heads asked them to audit customer acquisition form of both companies separately and even the compliance related to subscriber base should be handled separately.

Bharti Airtel spokesperson said both the parties have operationalised the merger following the telecom tribunal TDSAT’s order directing the DoT to take the merger on record and approval by NCLT Delhi and NCLT Mumbai.