'Action will be taken if firms are found to have violated norms'

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) today said necessary action would be taken against the companies that were allotted new mobile licences in 2008, if any misrepresentation of facts while acquiring licences was found.

In a statement, DoT said unified access service (UAS) licences were granted on the basis of information filed by the applicants according to prescribed guidelines.

“If any misrepresentation of facts is brought to notice at a later date, necessary action can be taken according to due procedure under relevant rules,” it said.

The department also said all the UAS licences in 2008 were issued in line with the policy decisions taken by the government in November 2003 and subsequent detailed guidelines issued in December 2005.

It said as many as 51 new licences were issued before January 2008 on a first-come-first-served basis.

About eight companies, including Uninor, Sistema and Loop Mobile were given new 2G licences, bundled with start-up spectrum of 4.4 MHz in 2008.

The DoT statement comes in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General claiming many licences were given without checking the qualification and credibility of the applicants.