Telecom dues deadline may be extended

NEW DELHI, JAN 27: Succumbing to pressure from private telecom operators, the Government is considering yet another shift in the deadline ...

NEW DELHI, JAN 27: Succumbing to pressure from private telecom operators, the Government is considering yet another shift in the deadline for telecom companies in paying their licence fee dues. Companies were supposed to pay the entire licence fee dues, amounting to around Rs 3,200 crore, of the first three years by January 31, to be eligible to be shifted from the licence fee regime to a revenue-sharing regime.

A proposal to shift this deadline to March 15 has now been sent to Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee for his views. Since the deadline is only two working days away, there is pressure on the AG to give his comments at the earliest.

The A-G8217;s views have been sought because the migration of telecom companies from the licence fee system to the new revenue-sharing system has been challenged through a public interest litigation in the court. According to official sources, the proposal to shift the January 31 deadline was mooted by the sub-group constituted by the Prime Minister to go into the8220;subsisting problems in the telecom sector8221;. 8220;We have merely sought the AG8217;s opinion on the legal tenability of shifting the key dates of the migration package cleared by the Cabinet especially since the matter is now being scrutinised by the Delhi High Court,8221; said a senior official of the Department of Telecommunications DoT.

The Government, while clearing the migration package, had laid down rules that for being eligible to avail the benefits of migration from August 1, 1999, companies would have to comply with important milestones in clearing their previous dues. Private companies were required to cough up 35 per cent of their dues by July 31, last year, securitise their outstandings fully by November 30 and square up the entire dues by January 31.

Among the cellphone companies which owe the Government huge dues are Aircell with licences in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh east with an outstanding of Rs 235 crore; Birla ATamp;T Gujarat and Maharashtra Rs 325 crore; Escotel Haryana, Kerala andUP west Rs 70 crore; Fascel Gujarat Rs 230 crore; Hexacom North East and Rajasthan Rs 50 crore; JT Mobile Karnataka, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh Rs 535 crore; Koshika Bihar, Orissa, UP east and west Rs 355 crore; Modicom Karnataka, Punjab Rs 250 crore; RPG Madhya Pradesh Rs 4 crore; Reliance Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, North East, Orissa and West Bengal Rs 86 crore; Tatas Andhra Pradesh Rs 94 crore; and BPL Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu Rs 220 crore. Apart from this, basic phone companies also owe the Government another Rs 400 crore.