The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought Rs 76.08 billion in dues from GAIL India for 2017-18 as the department appeared to be not pressing for immediate payment of Rs 1.83 trillion in past dues which it had previously assessed from GAIL India.
As per industry sources, DoT had sent a notice to GAIL soon after the February 14, 2020 hearing in the Supreme Court (SC) on dues owned by telecom companies.
Further, the dues now being sought from GAIL include a penalty for late payment.
The SC’s original ruling in October 2019 led the DoT to demand Rs 3 trillion from non-telecom PSUs such as GAIL, Oil India and PowerGrid for the telecom licences acquired by these firms for internal communication purposes.