GSM operators owe Rs 451 crore to govt

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communication and other GSM telephone operators owe government over Rs 451 crore (Rs 4.51 billion) in license fee and spectrum charges, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

"The total amount outstanding including interest against GSM operators as on March 31, 2010 is Rs 451.74 crore (Rs 4.52 billion)," Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour.

Bharti Airtel owes the highest amount of Rs 135.11 crore (Rs 1.35 billion) in spectrum charges and another Rs 0.44 crore in license fee dues. Vodafone had an outstanding of Rs 71.77 crore (Rs 717.7 million) towards spectrum charges while R-Comm owes Rs 48.54 crore (Rs 485.4 million) towards license fee.

Pilot said the operators have challenged the basis of calculations of the dues and the matter is currently sub-judice.

The matter is in Supreme Court which has fixed the next date of hearing on August 11. Under the revenue sharing model, dues are calculated based on Adjusted Gross Revenue of the companies.

"Certain operators have questioned the definition of AGR," he said.

BPL Mobile Comm owns Rs 29 crore (Rs 290 million) in license fee dues, Aircel Rs 0.44 crore (Rs 44 lakh), BSNL Rs 94.44 crore (Rs 944.4 million), MTNL Rs 0.73 crore (Rs 73 lakh) and Dishnet Wireless Rs 13.91 crore (Rs 139.1 million).

Besides, MTNL owes Rs 16.49 crore (Rs 164.9 million) in spectrum charges, BPL Cellular Rs 10.83 crore (Rs 108.3 million), Ideal Cellular Rs 7.07 crore (Rs 70.7 million), Reliance Telecom Rs 4.03 crore (Rs 40.3 million), Aircel Cellular Rs 0.9 crore (Rs 9,00,000), Dishnet Wireless Rs 0.15 crore (Rs 15 lakh), Etisalat Rs 0.11 crore (Rs 11 lakh) and Unitech Rs 0.06 crore (Rs 6 lakh), he said. The government, he said, has so far collected Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion) from telecom operators in license and spectrum fee.