Following in the footsteps of Sistema and Telenor, ByCell has invoked the bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement (BIPA) treaty against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for revoking its telecom licence, says news reports. It has sent a legal notice to DoT in this context.
In the notice, ByCell has stated that DoT did not provide the operator with any justification for the revocation of its licences. It added that its argument that ByCell had not provided adequate information pertaining to its promoters was baseless. The company is seeking a fair and equitable treatment under BIPA between India and Russia, and India and Cyprus.
ByCell is promoted by Russian nationals through a Cyprus-based company ? Tenoch which holds 97 per cent stake in ByCell Holdings AG, a Swiss-based company, which in turn owns 73 per cent stake in ByCell India.
The company had formed a joint venture with Hyderabad-based Bitcorp Private Limited to bid for telecom licences. The company bid for five circles and received letter of intent from DoT in January 2008. However, following concerns raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs about the shareholding pattern of the company and its source of funds, DoT revoked the company?s licences.
