According to a report by comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG), Digital Bharat Nidhi, a rural telecom development fund under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), should recover liquidated damages and a non-performance penalty of Rs 84.9 million from Bharti Airtel, pending for the last four years,
The report observed that DBN entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel in December 2017 to provide mobile coverage in Assam and Sikkim, with all sites to be commissioned by June 2019. However, several sites remain uninstalled even after multiple extensions of the deadline.
The CAG said DBN needs to expedite the commissioning of pending sites and ensure recovery of outstanding liquidated damages (LD) and non-performance penalty (NPP) from Bharti Airtel. According to the report, only 431 of the approved 756 sites had been commissioned by April 2021. DBN subsequently revised the target to 562 sites, but 124 sites remained uncommissioned as of April 2025, attracting LD and NPP amounting to Rs 194.7 million.
Further as per the CAG, out of the total penalty, DBN recovered only Rs 109.8 million, leaving Rs 84.9 million outstanding even four years after the expiry of the roll-out period.
