Lagatar24 Desk
The central government is preparing to give relief to telecom companies in the case of spectrum user charges of about Rs 40,000 crore. The government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that they are reviewing the process of levying spectrum user charges (SUC) from telecom companies. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had sought a time of at least three weeks from the court for this, which has been approved by the court.
The Department of Telecom has said that it is reconsidering its decision to pursue the case against the telecom companies. In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the government said that the telecom sector has been going through a financial crisis for some time due to various circumstances. Despite some measures taken by the government in the public interest, most of the TSPs providing mobile phones and broadband are running at a loss.
The government said that the Indian Banks’ Association has also informed the central government in written that the adverse growth in the telecom sector could lead to failures, eroding competition, monopolies, unstable operations and serious damage to the banking system.
Notably, Telecom companies owe the government Rs 40,000 crore for spectrum user charges. The country’s largest telecom company Bharti Airtel owes Rs 8,414 crore while Vodafone Idea owes Rs 4,389 crore One Time Spectrum Charge (OTSC). Other spectrum cases are still under review.
In 2012, the Supreme Court canceled 122 telecom permits in connection with the 2G scam. The court said that this public asset should be allotted by auction. The then cabinet decided that a one-time spectrum usage charge (OTSC) of Rs 1,658 crore would be charged from the telecom company for allotment of spectrum for all India license. Earlier this charge was linked to the number of subscribers.
In the UPA-II government, this policy was changed to say that all spectrums above 4.4 Mhz will be charged for user charge at the market rate. There was a dispute over last year’s dues and telecom companies opposed it. After this, the matter reached the Telecom Disputes Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) which in July 2019 ordered that dues of previous years from companies cannot be taken from the new rule and it will be applicable from a later date. This order was challenged by the Department of Telecom in the Supreme Court.
The next hearing of the case will be on November 17.