DoT to collect Rs 200 million as liquidated damages from new players

New telecom operators continue to face testing times.

After facing licence cancellation by virtue of the Supreme Court?s verdict in the 2G case, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to further penalise them on grounds of failing to meet rollout obligations.

DoT reportedly plans to collect between Rs 20 million and Rs 200 million as liquidated damages, depending on the area of operation.

In fact, it has already requested its finance wing to encash the bank guarantees deposited by them.

Prior to this, new players Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL), Videocon and Etisalat DB were involved in a long-standing dispute with DoT over this issue. DoT had issued show-cause notices to each player, after which, the operators asked the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to step in.

Meanwhile, TDSAT has rejected SSTL?s petition against DoT in this context.

In the notice, DoT had questioned why the nine Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) licences issued to the company should not be terminated as it has violated the rollout obligations by not starting the services in the stipulated period.

TDSAT rejected SSTL?s petition on grounds that the operator had filed the petition too early on, as DoT was yet to take a final decision in this respect.