DoT had no grounds of imposing a fresh penalty on Idea: TDSAT

The rollout obligations issue continues.

Prior to this, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had imposed a penalty of  Rs 0.04 billion on Idea Cellular for failing to meet stipulated rollout guidelines in five circles.

The operator was to rollout services in each of these circles 39 weeks after it was allotted spectrum. Thereafter, Idea Cellular challenged the penalty order before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

TDSAT subsequently dismissed DoT?s penalty order on grounds that the latter did not give idea Cellular a chance to present its case.

Now, TDSAT has once again asked DoT to explain why it has imposed fresh penalties on Idea Cellular, despite its earlier order. The tribunal has asked DoT to pay Rs 0.05 billion to Idea Cellular as cost of litigation.