(a) whether the amount of 55 thousand crore rupees of the Government is due on telecom service providers and out of this 44 thousand crore rupees is stuck in litigation;
(b) if so, the reasons due to which the Government has not been able to recover the said amount;
(c) the reasons for not delicensing those service providers who owe more than 500 crore rupees;
(d) the reaction of the Government thereto; and
(e) the reformative measures taken in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) to (e) The total demands raised by the Department of Telecom for the License Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges based on Adjusted Gross Revenue as on date are of Rs. 88,233.41 Cr. The entire amount is under litigation because of the dispute regarding the definition of what constitutes as ‘Adjusted Gross Revenue’ before the Hon’ble Supreme Court since 2015. Department of Telecom has challenged the order of Ld. TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal) dated 23.04.2015 in Telecom Petition No 7 of 2003 be fore the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide Civil Appeal No. 6183-6255 of 2015 and connected petitions.The Government may not be able to initiate any coercive action in the matter since it is sub-judice.
However, to further securitize the dues of the Government, Department of Telecom has filed four (4) Interlocutory Applications in the same matter with a prayer to direct the TSPs to submit additional Bank Guarantees worth Rs. 88,233.41 Cr.