NEW DELHI: In what may come as a big relief for struggling telecom players, the government is considering withdrawing legal cases related to the controversial one time spectrum charge (OTSC), involving disputes of about Rs 40,000 crore.
The department of telecom (DoT) in an affidavit before the Supreme Court cited financial stress of the sector as the primary reason to take this step.
“The central government is desirous of reviewing and/or re-considering its decision to proceed with the present proceedings of appeal. It is submitted that considering the nature of issue involved, this decision will have to be taken after the scrutiny at various levels which may consume some reasonable time,” the affidavit dated October 4 said.
The DoT has asked the top court for three weeks’ time to enable the central government to take an informed decision whether to proceed with the present appeal or not.
It requested that the case be adjourned for a period of four weeks.
DoT said the decision was taken to promote public interest, protect government revenue and more particularly encourage competition amongst telecom operators by preventing a situation where viability of some of the service providers becomes unsustainable resulting in monopolistic situations and other adverse impact on the economy.
According to the DoT, Airtel’s OTSC liability comes in at Rs 8,414 crore, while Vodafone idea’s stands at Rs 4,390 crore.
If the case is withdrawn, this would be the second big relief for the two players who are still staring at cumulative adjusted gross revenue AGR dues to the tune of Rs 76,000 crore.
The government on Sept 15 had announced relief for telecom operators by giving them more time to pay dues and interest on penalties in the form of equities.
Meanwhile, shares of Airtel and Vodafone Idea rallied 3.26% and 7% each intraday, respectively.
Seeks three weeks’ time from Supreme Court
The Department of Telecom has asked the Supreme Court for three weeks’ time to enable the central government to take an informed decision whether to proceed with the present appeal or not.
It requested that the case be adjourned for four weeks.