TDSAT sets aside Rs650 cr penalty on Airtel, blasts DoT for greed

Shares of Bharti Airtel jumped 2.1 per cent in early trade today as the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) set aside a Rs650-crore penalty imposed by the Department of Telecommunications on India's biggest telecom operator in a case related to roaming.

The DoT had issued demand notice of Rs650 crore to Airtel and Rs100 crore to Vodafone (formerly Hutch) in July and August 2013.

The department under the telecom ministry had found Bharti Airtel routing national and international calls as local calls (SLD) under a scheme till 2005 despite being told to stop it in 2003, and this caused the exchequer and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) losses across 13 service areas.

Similar allegations were levelled against Hutch for offering such services in Delhi and Mumbai. The DoT imposed a penalty of Rs50 crore in each telecom circle for alleged violation of rule on both the companies.

The service was carried on by Hutch for slightly over a year from 12 December 2002 to 31 December 2003, and by Airtel for over two years from 5 October 2002 to 11 January 2005.

The appellate tribunal ruled that there was no loss to BSNL due to these services by Airtel and Vodafone. It pulled up DoT, saying the department "must learn that imposition of penalty is not a means for generating of revenue to meet financial targets, and we regret to say that such orders can only be passed by someone who, safe in anonymity, feels secure from any accountability."