3G Roaming Tangle: Far from over
DoT wants ASG to help them frame the draft notice for unjust enrichment, which will be issued to the operators
The department of telecommunications (DoT) has sought the help of Additional Soliciter General (ASG) AS Chandhiok for framing show cause notices it intends to send to GSM mobile operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea cellular, asking them to pay penalty for offering high-end data services in areas where they don't have 3G permits.
According to a senior official at DoT, the department wants ASG to help them frame the draft notice for unjust enrichment, which will be issued to the operators.
"The action regarding recovery of unjust enrichment amount needs to be taken by way of issuing a separate show cause notice. As drafting of this show cause notice requires the legal understanding of such doctrines, DoT wants ASG to draft that," the official said.
Besides, DoT wants a clarity on whether they should mention the maximum penalty in the show cause notice and take a final call after reviewing the responses from the telcos.
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had entered into mutual agreements to offer 3G services in circles where they could not bag 3G spectrum in an auction held in 2010.DoT had ruled such pacts illegal in December 2011 and asked the operators to stop offering 3G services beyond their licensed circles through roaming agreements. The operators had filed a petition challenging DoT’s verdict in the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
A two-member bench of TDSAT in July gave a spilt verdict on the matter. While member P K Rastogi said the operators could not provide roaming services as they were not allowed to provide 3G services with 2G licences, Chairman Justice S B Sinha ordered DoT to start the procedure afresh, as the department had not followed proper procedure and the operators were not given enough time to present their views.
Following the spilt verdict, the operators were maintaining “status-quo” and continuing with their 3G roaming pacts.
Immediately after the verdict was given, a senior DoT official wrote to Chandhiok seeking his opinion on the legal position with respect to applicability of the order of the tribunaland whether services provided by the operators should be stopped.
ASG in his earlier communication, had agreed DoT could proceed to take action against the telecom service providers. He had clarified that show cause notice for imposition of penalty including cancellation of licences as applicable under the licence condition can be issued. Besides, action regarding recovery of “unjust enrichment” amount would be additionally applicable.