The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has requested the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to not take any coercive action against Tata Communications in relation to the government’s licence fee demand of Rs 61.59 billion from the company.
In an exchange filing, Tata Communications said that the DoT, through a letter dated August 17, 2023, had raised certain licence fee demands of Rs 61.59 billion, of which enforceable demand is Rs 37.85 billion and Rs 23.74 billion, realisable based on the outcome of the case pending before the Supreme Court. The demand pertains to the national long-distance (NLD), internet service provider (ISP)-IT, and unified licence (UL)-ISP licences of the company for the periods FY2009 to FY 2022 (excluding FY2010 (NLD), FY2011 (ISP-IT) and FY2022 (UL-ISP)).
The company added that these demands had been challenged before TDSAT, which in its order dated August 28, 2023, had directed DoT not to take any coercive action till the next hearing. On the expected financial implications, Tata Communications added that this has already been considered as part of contingent liabilities for the quarter ended June 30, 2023.
