Question : Impact of Supreme Court Ruling on Revenues of Telecom Operators

(a) the list of companies with telecom licenses, apart from major telecom operators, such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), cable operators, etc. which will be impacted by the Supreme Courts’ ruling on dues to be paid by Telecom operators, State/UT-wise especially in the city of Bengaluru;

(b) the number of companies among these which are classified as MSMEs;

(c) the impact of the said Supreme Courts’ ruling on the profits of the companies; and

(d) the steps the Government is willing to take to ensure the survival of these companies?

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 Vs. ASSOCIATION OF UNIFIED TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS OF INDIA 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 Telecom Service Providers were dismissed. The Supreme Court has upheld the definition of the Gross Revenue and Adjusted Gross Revenue as enumerated in the License Agreement. While most of the licensees of DoT were not direct party to the dispute, the ratio of the judgement will be applicable on all the licensees.

The list of licensees of Department of Telecom in respect of Karnataka Circle and Bengaluru is attached as Annexure-I & Annexure-II respectively. The list of licensees of Department of Telecom in respect of other Telecom Circles is available in http://cgca.gov.in/decentralized-licenses.

(b) The Department of Telecom does not seek the information from the licensees as to whether they are classified as MSMEs.

(c) As the ratio of the Supreme Court judgement is applicable on all the licenses of DoT, the ruling may have impact on the profits of these companies.

(d) The Union Cabinet has permitted deferment of spectrum auction payments instalments for next two years (2020-21 and 2021-22) in order to give relief to financially stressed Telecom Service Providers (TSPs).