In continuation of the rollout obligations issue, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has asked Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) to shell out Rs 226.5 million as additional liquidated damages.
This is on grounds that the operator was unable to meet rollout obligations in five circles.
This amount has to be paid by the operator in the form of performance bank guarantees. This comprises of Rs 34.5 million for the Uttar Pradesh (East), Rs 50.5 million for Uttar Pradesh (West), Rs 60.5 million for Punjab, Rs 58.5 million for Himachal Pradesh and Rs 22.5 million for Gujarat.
Prior to this, TDSAT had rejected SSTL?s petition against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in this regard.
DoT had issued a notice to the company owing to SSTL?s failure to rollout services on time in nine circles, as per the stipulations of the telecom licence.
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.
Meanwhile, 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.
