Telecom cos owe Rs 587.24 cr in licence fee: Govt

Amount includes Rs 36.57 crore dues towards licence fee and Rs 550.67 crore for spectrum charges from the various telecom companies

PTI | August 29, 2011



The government on past Friday said telecom companies have a total outstanding of Rs 587.24 crore as dues for licence fee and spectrum charges. 

The amount includes Rs 36.57 crore dues towards licence fee and Rs 550.67 crore for spectrum charges from the various telecom companies, Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Bharti Airtel owes Rs 17.66 crore as license fee and Rs 129.80 crore in spectrum charges. Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular owe Rs 132.56 crore and Rs 27.94 crore as spectrum charges respectively, besides Spice Communications (Rs 3.29 crore), Aircel (Rs 1.77 crore) and MTNL (Rs 4.92 crore).

Besides, Deora said that apart from the entry fee charged by the Department of Telecom (DoT) towards grant of Cellular and UAS licences from 2001 onwards, no separate up-front charge has been levied for allotment of 6.2 MHz of GSM or 5 MHz of CDMA spectrum to cellular licensees.

However, annual spectrum usage charges are being levied from these licencees as a percentage of adjusted gross revenue, he added.

Telecom regulator Trai in its recommendations last year on 'Spectrum Management and Licensing Framework' said that the contracted spectrum for all the access licences issued in or after 2001 is 6.2 MHz and 5 MHz in respect of GSM and CDMA operators.

Deora said the recommendations of May 2010 are under considerations of the Government and being a matter of policy formation, it is not feasible to specify a timeframe for final decision.

Comments

 

Other News

Distinguishing Fish 1 and Fish 2: The pragmatism behind India’s WTO ratification

 India became the 123rd WTO member to ratify the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries subsidies (AoFS) when it deposited the Instrument of Acceptance for Phase 1 on July 20, 2026. The ratification is restricted to disciplining Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU), protection for overfished

The 7% growth problem: Why the next 7% will be harder

India has become accustomed to hearing the 7% growth number. It is now less a milestone than an expectation. Yet the paradox is becoming clearer: maintaining 7% growth may be considerably harder than achieving it once. India’s real GDP grew 7.7% in FY2025–26, following growth of 6.5% in FY202

The Constitution cannot be altered: Justice Abhay Oka

Justice Abhay Oka, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2025, has said that the Constitution of India cannot be altered. Explaining the landmark Kesavananda Bharati judgment (1973) on the basic structure of the Constitution, he said, “This is one judgment that has saved democracy in India.&rdq

How the flora and fauna evolved in the Indian subcontinent

Mammals of India  By A.J.T. Johnsingh and P.O. Nameer HarperCollins India in association with Bombay Natural History Society  

India`s renewable race is moving beyond megawatts

When Shell bought Sprng Energy in 2022, India`s renewable energy market appeared to offer precisely what global energy majors were seeking: scale, growth and a place in one of the world`s largest energy transitions. Four years later, Shell is selling the same business to Aditya Birla Group for an enterpris

Nepal Floods: India keeps close watch on the situation

India`s central government has been keeping a close watch on the situation arising out of the flash flood in Nepal on Wednesday. Union home minister Amit Shah spoke with the chief ministers of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the two states that share the border with Nepal, regarding the disaster

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter