DoT to impose Rs 400-crore fine on 7 telecom operators

New Delhi: The Department of Telecom is likely to impose a penalty of Rs400 crore on seven telecom operators that include Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices, Dishnet Wireless, Hutchison Essar, Reliance Communications, HFCL Infotel and Shyam Telelink for not fulfilling the rollout obligations according to their licence conditions.

Reliance Communication will have to pay the highest penalty of Rs147 crore followed by Tata Teleservices with Rs140 crore.

The operators were required cover 10 per cent of total number of districts in an area of operations within one year from the effective date of licence and ensure that at least 90 per cent of these districts, including inside buildings, are given coverage.

DoT officials said that the telecom companies have not submitted the required certificate from the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) within the one-year period.

The operators said that the delay in providing services has been due to the delay in allocation of the spectrum and clearances from the various government agencies.

Operators added that Government should do away with the roll out obligation in view of the intense competition, which will drive telcos to reach out to more areas.