The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has rejected the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) October 2022 order and related demand notices that imposed an additional 0.5 per cent spectrum usage charge (SUC) on the entire spectrum holdings of telecom operators involved in spectrum sharing, rather than just the specific shared bands.
TDSAT stated that the 0.5 per cent incremental SUC should be applicable only to the specific spectrum bands that are being shared, not the entire holdings within a licensed service area, as interpreted by DoT.
The tribunal also criticised DoT for ignoring recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), calling the approach “read and rejected.” TRAI had advised in both August 2020 and May 2023 that the incremental SUC should only apply to shared bands. Despite this, DoT issued its October 2022 order without revisiting TRAI’s input, and without disclosing reasons for its rejection.
In addition, this ruling marks a significant win for Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, which had been asked by DoT to pay Rs 16 billion and Rs 3 billion respectively as additional SUC.
