TDSAT stays DoT’s Rs37-crore additional penalty impost on Airtel

The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has stayed the penalty imposed by the Department of Telecom on Bharti Airtel for failure to disconnect subscribers with ''incorrect'' customer details.

In its interim order, issued today, TDSAT stayed DoT's demand notes imposing a penalty of Rs36.94 crore on Airtel.

The telecom tribunal also asked the DoT to desist from taking any coercive action against the company for its failure to disconnect erring subscribers.

''The respondents are directed not to take any coercive steps against the petitioner,'' the TDSAT bench headed by Justice S B Sinha said in its order.

The Rs36.94 penalty imposed on Bharti Airtel on 3 April for failure to disconnect mobile subscribers with faulty identities is over and above the Rs111.25 crore penalty the DoT had imposed on the telecom service provider after the Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) Cells found 'faulty CAFs' in March, April and July of 2011.

Bharti had challenged the earlier penalty as well before the TDSAT, which had in an interim order passed in February asked the company to pay 25 per cent of the penalty demanded by DoT.