Showcause notices sent to 5 telcos for understating revenues: govt

However, issue has been stayed by Kerala High Court, TDSAT and Chennai High Court

Government has sent showcause notices to five telecom firms including Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices for alleged understatement of revenues of over Rs 10,000 crore for financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08, Parliament was informed today.

However, the issue has been stayed by the Kerala High Court, Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and Chennai High Court, Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"Special audit of five major private telecom group companies including the Vodafone group has been conducted for the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08," Deora added.

The government has sent showcause notices to Reliance for understating revenues of Rs 3,402.92 crore, Tata Teleservices (Rs 3,156.46 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,927.50 crore), Vodafone (Rs 1,490.94 crore) and Idea (Rs 848.87 crore), according to the reply.

The total amount of revenue understated is Rs 10,826.69 crore and the total licence fee demand raised, which also includes interest is Rs 1,841.67 crore from these telecom companies, it added.

"The government has sent showcause notice/demand notice to all the aforesaid licensees. The notices include interest as per the terms and conditions of the licence agreement. The demands raised on account of special audit have been stayed by Kerala High Court/TDSAT/Chennai High Court," Deora said.