The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) not to ask the operators to pay licence fees in accordance with the recent Supreme Court order until January 31, 2012. This is the next date of hearing of the dispute between operators and DoT over the components of adjusted gross revenue (AGR).
During the proceedings, the counsel appearing for DoT informed the tribunal that it was in the process of making a revised demand for AGR from companies as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
Counsels appearing for the operators requested the TDSAT to adjourn the matter as they may challenge the revised AGR bills before the tribunal.
This was accepted by the TDSAT bench headed by Justice S.B. Sinha, who adjourned the matter to January 31.
The tribunal was hearing the dispute over the components of AGR between telecom operators and DoT. According to the Supreme Court’s direction, the tribunal has to take a fresh decision on what constitutes adjusted gross revenue for calculating the licence fee and issued a notice to DoT in this regard.
