The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has asked Bharti Airtel to pay 50 per cent of the Rs 500 million penalty imposed on it by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
This is on grounds of the operator allegedly violating the licence terms and conditions pertaining to the issuing of bulk mobile connections.
Passing an interim order, the tribunal directed the operator to pay 50 per cent of the penalty within two weeks.
The tribunal also said that it would be in the interest of justice to direct the company to pay the sum, but emphasised that this action would not impact the hearing of a plea filed by Bharti Airtel against imposition of the penalty.
The tribunal’s interim order came after the operator filed a petition challenging the penalty.
Prior to this, in September 2011, DoT had imposed a penalty on the operator after it found that the company had issued 1,847 bulk mobile connections to Falcon Business Resource Private Limited and 741 to Galaxy Rent, violating the terms and conditions of its licence agreement.
However, the penalty was stayed by TDSAT on October 5, 2011, until it issued a further order on Bharti Airtel?s plea.
“In the meantime, the respondent (DoT) may not take coercive steps to implement the impugned order dated September 19, 2011,” TDSAT had said while issuing the notice to DoT.
During the proceedings, DoT had told the tribunal that by issuing SIM cards to the aforementioned companies, which later transferred them to NRIs and foreigners, Bharti Airtel breached the security conditions of the licences. It further said that this impacted the government?s adjusted gross revenue (AGR).
However, the charge was opposed by Bharti Airtel, which said that it paid the government the required AGR amount. The company had further said that the two firms selling SIM cards were its franchisees and were distributing them on its behalf.
