The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has dismissed Idea Cellular?s petition on the merger of the six overlapping licences of Spice Communications, say news reports.
TDSAT dismissed the petition on the grounds that in July this year, the High Court had directed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to take a decision on the issue of the transfer of Spice Comunications? UAS licenses to Idea Cellular within three months.
The issue centres on the alleged non-compliance of merger guidelines by Spice Communications and Idea Cellular, following a merger between the two in 2008. Prior to this, Idea Cellular had approached the Delhi High Court challenging the company judge?s verdict which held that Spice Communications? UAS licences could not be transferred to Idea Cellular.
The company judge had said that Idea Cellular had not put on record DoT?s written correspondence in this context, along with other relevant documents. Therefore, it held that the six overlapping licenses of Spice Communications would not be transferred to Idea Cellular until prior permission from DoT was obtained. At the time, Spice Communications? UAS licenses were retained by DoT.
