Lok Sabha Question No. 575 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Dues Pending Against Telecom Service Providers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Kaushalendra Kumar, Ramesh Chander Kaushik, Saikia Dilip, Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Sougata Ray, L.S. Tejasvi Surya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 575 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## DUES PENDING AGAINST TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS

## †575.   SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH:

PROF. SAUGATA RAY:

SHRI L.S. TEJASVI SURYA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  more  than  approximately  Rs.  92,000  crore  worth  amount  of  Government  is outstanding against the private and State-run Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) on account of license fees and if so, the details thereof, TSP-wise and the steps taken by the Government to recover the said amount;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  fixed  any  accountability  in  this  regard  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (c) whether  TSPs  have  failed  to  pay  Adjusted  Gross  Revenues  (AGRs)  to  the  Government  on time  and  if  so  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  the  quantum  of  AGRs  of  TSPs  due  to  the Government, TSP-wise;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to provide a waiver for penalties and interest on the nonpayment of license fee on AGRs by TSPs and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government is considering to extend the time limit for TSPs for the payment of license fee, penalty, interest and other dues and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the debt burden of the telecom industry and if  so,  details  thereof  and  the  reaction  of  the  Government  thereto  along  with  the  steps  taken  by  the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) to (c) The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment dated 24.10.2019 in Civil Appeal  6328-6399  of  2015  upheld  the  definition  of  'Gross  Revenue'  and  'Adjusted  Gross Revenue' as enumerated in the License Agreement. The Hon'ble Court has directed to make the payments of due amounts within three months and report the compliance.

The  provisional  outstanding  of  the  TSPs  on  account  of  License  Fee  is  attached  as Annexure-I. These  amounts  are  provisional  and  subject  to  revision  in  light  of  the  Hon'ble Supreme Court judgment dated 24.10.2019.

The Government has directed the TSPs to make the payment in accordance with the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 24.10.2019 and submit the requisite documents to ensure the compliance within the stipulated timeframe.

(d) & (e) No such proposal is under consideration of the government as on date.

(f) As per the Inter-Ministerial Group report of 31.08.2017, the total debt of -the telecom industry was Rs 7.88 lakh crores.

(Rs. in Crore)

| Particulars                          |   Telecom Service Providers | Tower Companies   |   Total |
|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------|---------|
| Indian Debt                          |                      159675 | 18049             |  177724 |
| Foreign Debt                         |                       83918 |                   |   83918 |
| Total Bank/FI Debt                   |                      243593 | 18049             |  261642 |
| Bank Guarantees                      |                       50000 |                   |   50000 |
| Deferred Spectrum Liabilities of DoT |                      295864 |                   |  295864 |
| Other Third Party Liabilities        |                      175464 | 4763              |  180227 |
| Total Outside Liabilities            |                      764922 | 22812             |  787734 |

The  Committee  of  Secretaries  under  the  chairmanship  of  Cabinet  Secretary  held meetings to discuss the issues relating to the stress in the sector.

## Annexure-I

## TSPs wise Provisional License Fee outstanding as per demand up to July-19

## (Rupees in Crore)

| S.No   | Name of the Company                                        |   Total Outstanding |
|--------|------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
| 1      | Idea Cellular Ltd                                          |                8485 |
| 2      | Vodafone Group of Companies                                |               19824 |
| 3      | Bharti Airtel Group of Companies                           |               21682 |
| 4      | Telenor India Private Ltd.                                 |                1950 |
| 5      | Tata Group of Companies                                    |                9987 |
| 6      | Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd.                                  |                  13 |
| 7      | Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd                                   |                2099 |
| 8      | Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd                              |                2537 |
| 9      | Aircel Group of Companies                                  |                7853 |
| 10     | Etisalat DB Telecom Private Ltd                            |                  29 |
| 11     | Quadrant Televentures Ltd                                  |                 116 |
| 12     | S.Tel Pvt Ltd.                                             |                  42 |
| 13     | Videocon Telecommunications Ltd.                           |                1033 |
| 14     | Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd                             |                 302 |
| 15     | Reliance Communication Ltd/Reliance Telecommunication Ltd. |               16457 |
| 16     | Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd.                                      |                 233 |
|        | Total                                                      |               92642 |

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