Govt, operators in no win situation

MUMBAI, August 3: The High Court's suggestion today has put both the government and the private telecom operators in a no-win situation. ...

MUMBAI, August 3: The High Court’s suggestion today has put both the government and the private telecom operators in a no-win situation. The Court has suggested that the government and the operators agree to a debate in the Parliament on the new telecom package, a forum the BJP-led government clearly wanted to stay away from. Moreover, this in any case would delay the matter for another three months till a new Parliament is in place vitiating the “urgency” argument of the government.

Informed sources say that the top government sources are keen that the operators give the undertaking so it would give the government a face-saving measure without the courts’interference.

For the private companies, even if they were to give the undertaking stating that they would be agreeable to revert to the old package if opposed by the Parliament, they would gain nothing as no financial institution – foreign or domestic – would be willing to lend money till the outcome of the Parliamentary debate is known. “If we can’t get a financial closure, what is the need for an undertaking to be submitted to the government.”

The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) and the Association of Basic Telecom Operators (ABTO) have called meetings of their members to discuss the Court’s proposal.

Debating the telecom package in the Parliament does not find favour with a large section of the operators as besides delaying the issue during which time the clock would be ticking on their arrear repayments, 35 per cent of which have to be done by August 15 and the remaining by January 31, 2000.

Some operators are of the view that instead of giving undertakings for a Parliamentary debate, it may be better to get a stay from the court so that at least immediate payments would not have to be made to the government (around Rs 1,000 crore) and also pending cases would not have to be withdrawn.

However, even this is fraught with problems as once a stay is given the entire business comes to a standstill till the stay is vacated.

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ABTO secretary general S C Khanna said “entire picture will crystallise tomorrow when the executive council of the ABTO meets here.”

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is also expected to communicate to the operators their interpretation of the court’s directive and the possible course of action.