Providing temporary relief to telecom companies, the Supreme Court on Friday granted conditional stay on the government?s decision hiking 2G telecom spectrum (radio waves) usage charges from April 1.
The country?s leading GSM telcos ? Vodafone Essar, Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom (operating in Rajasthan) and Idea cellular?Vodafone, Bharti and Idea?had challenged the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal?s decision that upheld the DoT?s directive to hike the levy operators pay to use spectrum, the airwaves on which mobile signals travel, by up to 50%.
While Vodafone has to pay Rs 135 crore, excluding interest, the two Bharti firms have a joint liability of Rs 220 crore and Idea will have to shell out Rs 55 crore on account of enhanced spectrum usage charges.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia while issuing a notice to DoT directed the telecos to deposit 50% of the disputed outstanding fee dues with the Supreme Court registry within two weeks. Besides, it asked the companies to furnish a bank guarantee from a nationalised bank for the rest 50% liability within two weeks.
?Looking into the complexity of the matter and stakes involved… we stay the impugned order passed by the tribunal,? the apex court said, adding, ?the managing director of each operator will file an affidavit giving an undertaking that in the event of their appeals being dismissed, they would pay the amount with interest as fixed by the court at that time.? However, it warned the operators that ?if there is any breach of any of the conditions, the impugned order will come into effect immediately.?
On February 25, 2010, DoT had increased spectrum usage charge in all circles under which operators were asked to pay a higher percentage of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to DoT as spectrum usage charges and on the basis of their spectrum allocation. The new charges vary between 3-8% depending on the quantum of airwaves held by an operator.