Kapil Sibal, Minister of Telecommunications and IT, has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to frame guidelines pertaining to the amount of penalty imposed on operators for violating licence conditions. He added that this process should be made as scientific as possible. Currently, DoT has been levying a maximum penalty of Rs 500 million on all such cases.
Sibal said that imposing the maximum penalty in each case may lead to unnecessary litigations and delays in realisation of penalty. He added that while imposing the maximum penalty is legal, the penalty amount may require DoT to re-analyse the situation and decide the sum, depending on the gravity of the case. So, not every violation should carry a penalty of Rs 500 million.
Further, when a DoT official determines the amount of penalty to be imposed, the reasons for imposition of that amount must be explained.
Sibal has asked DoT to submit the guidelines on this issue by September this year.
This comes after an issue was raised over Reliance Communications deactivating their towers in certain rural areas, thereby disrupting services for some time and violating the licence agreement under the Universal Services Obligation (USO) Fund.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is in agreement with Sibal?s views. According to Rajan S. Mathews, director general, COAI, ?The Minister’s advice to DoT, on adopting a rational and scientific approach to imposing penalty on operators, is a welcome assurance. The industry is reeling under high costs, it will be unjustified if penalties are regularly imposed at the maximum levels without completely assessing the issues and causes. Most of these issues may be beyond the operator?s control. We are confident that DoT, in consultation with the industry, will frame guidelines that are rational, relevant and objective.?
