Decision on licence cancellation expected in a month: DoT Secy

Telecom Ministry has issued notices to firms on two issues -- ineligibility for acquiring licences and missing roll-out obligations within the stipulated time

PTI | June 13, 2011



The government is expected to take a decision on cancelling licences of telecom operators who failed to meet the eligibility criteria in about
a month, a top government official said.  "We have received clarification from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on date of reckoning for compliance of various conditions, whether it be change in memorandum of association or equity-based," DoT Secretary R Chandrasekhar told reporters on the sidelines of an Assocham event here.

"But before taking a final decision, we have to take legal opinion as well. The whole process should take a month or so," he added.
The Telecom Ministry has issued notices to firms on two issues -- ineligibility for acquiring licences and missing roll-out obligations within
the stipulated time.

"We have received responses of all the companies. We are scrutinising it and will take this up in the next Telecom Commission meeting,"
Chandrasekhar said.  He added that the responses to show cause notices for not meeting the roll-out obligations have also started coming in.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja is facing charges for having issued 122 licences in 2008 without auctioning the scarce resource spectrum, which
caused a presumptive loss of up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore as per government auditor CAG.

The matter is being examined by various investigating agencies and also a parliamentary panel. Raja and several government as well as telco
officials have been arrested in the case. Notices have been issued to Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB), Datacom (now Videocon Telecom), S Tel, Uninor and others, either due to ineligibility or missing roll out obligations.

Comments

 

Other News

Consumer Justice at a Crossroads

Over the past four decades, India`s consumer protection landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation. What began with the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as a simple mechanism to empower ordinary citizens has evolved into a comprehensive framework capable of addressing challenges ranging from mislea

Doctors, experts call for ban on junk food ads, mandate warning labels

More than 30 doctors, medical scientists and public health professionals have urged the government to take decisive action against the aggressive advertising and marketing of junk food, calling for a watershed ban on advertisements for foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and ultra-processed foods (UPF

Asiatic Lion population rises from 523 in 2015 to 891 in 2025

On World Lion Day 2026, environment, forest and climate change Minister  Bhupender Yadav celebrated India’s remarkable journey in lion conservation and reaffirmed the country’s unwavering commitment to protecting wildlife and biodiversity.   In a post on soc

Railways imposed ₹5.13 crore fine for food quality and hygiene violations

Indian Railways serve about 58 crore meals every year on an average. About only 0.0008% food quality related complaints are received on average. Based on complaints during the last three years, appropriate penal actions have been taken by IRCTC. Such actions include imposition of fines amounting to ₹5.13

STHAVAR: Why every Indian built asset needs a permanent digital identity

India has built digital systems for identity, payments, taxation, documents, logistics and public services. State governments, ministries, infrastructure agencies and urban local bodies have also created portals for land records, building permissions, project monitoring, property taxation and municipal s

Saksham Skill census identifies 22,000 job-ready candidates in one Mumbai ward

A first-of-its-kind AI-enabled skill census conducted in Mumbai`s H-West Ward has identified a potential livelihood pipeline of nearly 22,000 candidates, generated over 32,000 provisional job matches while revealing that 71.2 per cent of surveyed homemakers are willing to join the workforce, according to

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter