Lok Sabha Question No. 502 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Penalty Imposed on Telecom Companies
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Imtiaz Jaleel Syed, Asaduddin Owaisi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 502 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## PENALTY IMPOSED ON TELECOM COMPANIES

## 502. SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU: SHRI SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL: SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the apex court has allowed the Union Government to recover Rs.92,000 crore from telecom companies as licence fee and penalty along with interest based on revenue sharing and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether this verdict is expected to put more pressure on the telecom sector which is already under stress and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether telecom companies have urged the Government to provide them a bail-out package and if so, the details thereof and the response of the Government thereto;
- (d) whether the Government has constituted any committee of Secretaries in this regard and is considering a bail-out package and if so, the details thereof and the time by which a decision is likely to be taken by the said committee in the aforesaid matter;
- (e) whether telecom companies owe approximately Rs.46,300 crore as spectrum usage charges to the Government and if so, the details thereof, telecom companies-wise; and
- (f) whether the Government is planning to recover the aforesaid charges from these companies and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The Hon'ble Supreme Court in CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 6328 - 6399 OF 2015 [UNION OF INDIA  VERSUS  ASSOCIATION  OF  UNIFIED  TELECOM  SERVICE  PROVIDERS  OF INDIA ETC.ETC.] pronounced its judgment dated 24.10.2019 wherein the appeals filed by the Department  of  Telecom  were  upheld  and  the  appeals  filed  by  the  TSPs  were  dismissed.  The Supreme Court has upheld the definition of the Gross Revenue and Adjusted Gross Revenue as enumerated in the License Agreement and has also upheld the imposition of Interest, Penalty and Interest on Penalty as per the terms and conditions of the License Agreement.

(b) & (c) The Cellular Operators Association of India vide their letter dated 29.10.2019 has submitted that in the absence of an immediate grant of relief by the Government, two of the three private mobile operators viz. Airtel and Vodafone-Idea, will face an unprecedented crisis. COAI has sought urgent intervention of the Government to avert such an unprecedented impact on the financial  health  of  their  member  companies.  However,  one  of  the  members  of  the  COAI  i.e. Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd has submitted a divergent opinion on the said matter.

(d) A Committee of Secretaries chaired by Cabinet Secretary has held meetings regarding the issues related to Telecom Sector.

(e) The  provisional  Spectrum  Usages  Charges  (SUC)  dues  TSP-wise  is  as  below.  This amount is subject  to  be  revised  once  the  AGR  figures  are  finalized  and  assessments  are  done accordingly.

| Outstanding SUC dues as on 31-10-2019   | Outstanding SUC dues as on 31-10-2019   | (Rs. In Crores)   |
|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-------------------|
| Sl.No                                   | TSP                                     | Total             |
| 1                                       | Aircel Group of Companies               | 2376.77           |
| 2                                       | Allianz                                 | 0.00              |
| 3                                       | Bharti Airtel Ltd                       | 13904.01          |
| 4                                       | Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd                | 2890.46           |
| 5                                       | Dishnet                                 | 642.54            |
| 6                                       | Etisalat DB Telecom Private Ltd         | 2.81              |
| 7                                       | Idea Cellular Ltd                       | 6745.37           |
| 8                                       | Loop Telecom Private Ltd                | 0.56              |
| 9                                       | Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd           | 585.88            |
| 10                                      | Quadrant Televentures Ltd               | 53.93             |
| 11                                      | Reliance Communication Ltd              | 3887.46           |
| 12                                      | Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd                | 47.52             |
| 13                                      | Reliance Telecommunication Ltd          | 796.32            |
| 14                                      | Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd          | 101.44            |
| 15                                      | S Tel Ltd                               | 13.67             |
| 16                                      | Spice                                   | 0.00              |
| 17                                      | Tata Teleservices Ltd                   | 3836.29           |
| 18                                      | Telewing                                | 3.49              |
| 19                                      | Telenor                                 | 204.35            |
| 20                                      | Unitech-Wireless                        | 712.33            |
| 21                                      | Videocon Telecommunications Ltd         | 265.09            |
| 22                                      | Vodafone Group of Companies             | 17984.23          |
| Total                                   | Total                                   | 55054.51          |

(f)      The Government has directed the Licensees to make the payments in accordance with the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 24.10.2019 and submit requisite documents within the stipulated timeframe.

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