Lok Sabha Question No. 1892 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-03
Subject: USOF
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Ashok Kumar Rawat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1892 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 RD  JULY, 2019

## USOF

## †1892. SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund(USOF)  was  set  up  under  Telecom  Policy, 1999 and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the  percentage  of  gross  revenue  required  to  be  deposited  by  the  telecom  operator companies in the said fund as per the said Telecom Policy;

(c) whether  all  the  said  companies  have  deposited  the  requisite  amount  in  the  USOF  in accordance with the rules laid down in this regard and if so, the details of the deposits made as on date;

(d) the details of the amount of funds utilized by the Government from the USOF for settingup  mobile  networks  in  the  country,  location  and  State-wise,  particularly  in  the  backward  and Scheduled Caste-dominated areas during the last three years along with the achievements made as a result thereof; and

(e) the amount of money available in the said fund as on date?

## ANSWER

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

(a) As  envisaged  in  the  New  Telecom  Policy  1999,  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund (USOF) was established under Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 which came into force from 1st April, 2002.

(b) As per the New Telecom Policy 1999, the percentage of revenue share towards universal access  levy  was  to  be  decided  by  the  Government  in  consultation  with  Telecom  Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)  At present, as per license agreement the License fee shall be 8% of the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR), inclusive of USO Levy which is 5% of the AGR.

(c) The definition of AGR is subjudice in Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, so companies have deposited the amounts on self - assessment basis, based on their understanding of AGR. The Universal Service Obligation(USO) Levy collected since inception is Rs 99,674.59 crore.

- (d) The details are at Annexure.
- (e) An amount of Rs. 50,554 Crore was available in the USO Fund at the end of May 2019.

The location-wise  /  State-wise  details  of  the  amount  of  funds  utilized  and  number  of towers set up by the Government from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for provision of mobile services in the country during the last three years:

## A. LWE Phase-I Project:

|   S.No. | Name of States   |   Amount Spent in last three years (in Crore) |   Total number of towers located in the State |   Number of tower installed in last three years |
|---------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Andhra Pradesh   |                                         41.73 |                                            62 |                                              23 |
|       2 | Bihar            |                                        146.75 |                                           250 |                                              66 |
|       3 | Chhattisgarh     |                                        352.6  |                                           525 |                                              40 |
|       4 | Jharkhand        |                                        404.79 |                                           816 |                                             284 |
|       5 | Maharashtra      |                                         54.66 |                                            65 |                                               9 |
|       6 | Madhya Pradesh   |                                         18.35 |                                            22 |                                               0 |
|       7 | Odisha           |                                        232.59 |                                           256 |                                             118 |
|       8 | Telangana        |                                         57.1  |                                           173 |                                             119 |
|       9 | Uttar Pradesh    |                                         46.15 |                                            78 |                                               0 |
|      10 | West Bengal      |                                         51.17 |                                            96 |                                              18 |

## B. Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for North Eastern Region:

|   S. No. | Eastern Region    |   No. of towers installed (Amount Yet to be released) |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Arunachal Pradesh |                                                    23 |
|        2 | Assam             |                                                   190 |
|        3 | Manipur           |                                                    46 |
|        4 | Mizoram           |                                                    34 |
|        5 | Nagaland          |                                                    35 |
|        6 | Sikkim            |                                                     1 |
|        7 | Tripura           |                                                     1 |

## C. Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Lakshadweep Island:

|   S. No. | Region             |   No. of towers installed (Amount Yet to be released) |
|----------|--------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Lakshadweep Island |                                                    10 |

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