The Indian Department of Telecommunications has hit old mobile operators with a fine of Rs1.5bn (US$33.7m) due to their failure to roll out their services on time, according to local media.
The Economic Times reported on Sunday that a senior DoT official…
The Indian Department of Telecommunications has hit old mobile operators with a fine of Rs1.5bn (US$33.7m) due to their failure to roll out their services on time, according to local media.
The Economic Times reported on Sunday that a senior DoT official had announced the news.
According to the report, the DoT issued 119 notices for new telecoms operators in relation to their network rollout obligations, levying penalties on them that collected over Rs3bn (US$67.4m).
The authorities had initially planned to demand a much higher amount (Rs4.77bn or US$107.1m) in penalties from older operators, which include Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices, RCom, Aircel.
But this was reduced after some of the operators had argued that the roll-out obligations had come into force from the date when spectrum was allocated and not the date when licences were issued.
The operators also reportedly claimed that the statutory clearances had come through late, which had led to additional delays.
