Govt to appeal before SC over TDSAT order on SIM

TDSAT set aside Rs 50 crore penalty on Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular for issuing bulk SIM cards without proper verification

The government is planning to file a civil appeal before the Supreme Court against the judgment by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on renting of SIM cards of Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Essar.

Government authorities recently decided to issue demand notices to the companies in the interest of the public exchequer.

TDSAT had, in July 2012, set aside the Rs 50 crore penalty imposed on each Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular by the government for allegedly issuing bulk SIM cards without proper verification.

The tribunal asked the department of telecommunications (DoT) that the operators may be served again with a showcause notice and on consideration of the causes shown by the petitioners, fresh orders may be passed.

TDSAT also asked DoT to refund the amount deposited by the petitioners at an interest of nine per cent per annum within two weeks. The tribunal had in its earlier orders directed the operators to pay half the amount, Rs 25 crore each.

Companies involved did not comment on the issue.

In 2003, Vodafone, which used to operate as Hutch at that time, had entered into an agreement with Matrix Cellular that offers telecom solutions to Indians visiting abroad, and had issued 10,000 SIM cards for its own use. But, DoT’s Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cell had later found that some numbers issued to Matrix by Vodafone were further rented out by the telecom solution provider. Following this, DoT had passed an order on October 18, 2011, imposing a penalty of Rs 50 crore on Vodafone. DoT had also imposed a Rs 50 crore penalty each on Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular for such a violation of the licence condition.