The Supreme Court has issued a status quo on Bharti Airtel offering 3G services through roaming pacts, say news reports. It has also directed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to not take any coercive action against the operator until the case’s next hearing, which is on April 11, 2013.
Bharti Airtel had approached the Supreme Court following an order from the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court had upheld DoT’s order asking the operator to terminate 3G services in circles where it did not hold a licence. The court had also directed the operator to pay a penalty of Rs 3.5 billion for violating licence norms.
