Lok Sabha Question No. 3279 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: USOF
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: RAMSINH PATALYABHAI RATHWA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3279 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND   MARCH, 2017

## USOF

## 3279. SHRI RAMSINH RATHWA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether revenue is collected from different private telecom operators to maintain the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF);
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether BSNL is the main beneficiary of the fund;
- (d) if so, the total fund made available to BSNL during the last three years;
- (e) whether  any  private  players  have  been  able  to  meet  the  demand  of  providing subsidised fixed services in villages; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) & (b) The  resources  for  meeting  the Universal Service Obligation  (USO)  are generated  through  a  Universal  Access  Levy  (UAL)  which  is  a  percentage  of  the  revenue earned by the operators under various licenses. The Universal Service Levy presently is 5% of the Adjusted Gross Revenue earned by all the operators. Revenue collected from different Private Telecom Operators to maintain the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) during last three years is enclosed as Annexure -A.
- (c) & (d) Telecom infrastructure development schemes are being implemented through BSNL.  Funds  have  been  provided  to  BSNL  towards  implementation  of  such  schemes  in inaccessible, rural and remote areas for fulfilling the obligation of USOF. The details of the amount disbursed to BSNL during the last three years is given below:
- (e) & (f) The  subsidy  amounts  of  Rs.  0.53  crore  and  Rs.  2.53  crore  have  been disbursed from USOF to M/s TATA and M/s RIL respectively during the last three years to meet the demand of providing subsidised fixed services in villages.

|   Sl. No. | Year    |   Amount (Rs. in crore) |
|-----------|---------|-------------------------|
|         1 | 2013-14 |                 1629.72 |
|         2 | 2014-15 |                  731.4  |
|         3 | 2015-16 |                  678.85 |

ANNEXURE 'A' Revenue collected from different Private Telecom Operators to maintain the Universal

Services Obligation Fund (USOF) during last three year

Rs. in Crore

| Sl. No.   | Name of Private Telecom Operators   |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |
|-----------|-------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1         | Aircel Ltd                          |    182.53 |    210.47 |    219.11 |
| 2         | Bharti Group of Companies           |   1788.04 |   2037.53 |   2292.19 |
| 3         | BPL Mobile Communications Ltd.      |     18.58 |      0    |      0    |
| 4         | Dishnet Wireless Ltd                |    142.29 |    170.11 |    183.27 |
| 5         | Idea Cellular Ltd                   |    931.07 |   1098.35 |   1314.87 |
| 6         | Reliance Group of Companies         |    434.56 |    378.87 |    329.18 |
| 7         | Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd      |     47.14 |     57.16 |     63.34 |
| 8         | Spice Communications Ltd            |     98.24 |    115.13 |    142.21 |
| 9         | Tata Group of Companies             |    498.56 |    536.55 |    663.05 |
| 10        | Unitech Wireless East Pvt. Ltd.     |     79.07 |     57.49 |     24.91 |
| 11        | Videocon Telecommunications Ltd     |      6.62 |      8.45 |      6.2  |
| 12        | Vodafone Group of Companies         |   1368.19 |   1554.91 |   1722.35 |
|           | Total*                              |   5594.89 |   6225.02 |   6960.68 |

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