Airtel is the largest mobile carrier in India, but even that kind of market position wasn't enough to push through a change the carrier desperately wanted. After announcing last week it would begin charging extra for VoIP data, Airtel has backed down in the face of bad press and angry customers. VoIP calls will continue to be billed as regular data, at least for now.
The carrier made the argument that the increasing use of services like Skype and Viber made it hard to run a profitable business going forward. The solution, it claimed, was to charge significantly more for data going to VoIP calls. It would then offer VoIP plans with a separate data allowance. It was quite the upsell. In addition to just being lame, it was a clear violation of net neutrality principals.
Consumers complained and government regulators pledged to investigate. This, along with the bad press has forced the company to cancel its plans, but there's nothing stopping Airtel from trying it again in the future.