The Supreme Court has stayed a tribunal order upholding a hike in 2G spectrum usage charges. It has, however, asked Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, Vodafone and Idea Cellular to deposit 50 per cent of the fee they would have otherwise had to pay.
Hearing an appeal filed by the GSM operators, a bench comprising chief justice S. H. Kapadia and Justices K. S. Radhakrishanan and Swatantar Kumar stayed the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order passed on 1 September that upheld the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) decision to increase 2G spectrum usage charges.
Vodafone has to pay Rs 1.35 billion, while Bharti Airtel and Hexacom have a joint liability of Rs 2.20 billion on account of enhanced spectrum usage charges.
