No undue benefit given to Sistema Shyam TeleServices: DoT

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has said that the set-off of Rs 1,626.32 crore, adjusted with the price of the fresh spectrum that Sistema Shyam TeleServices had won through auction in March, was given by the rules.

In a recent communication to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), DoT has stated that the provision of set-off was equally applicable to all the quashed licencees and no distinction was being made amongst the licencees.

CAG cannot take a position on legal issues without taking legal advice from the Attorney General, it said, adding that in the absence of the Attorney General’s advice, the CAG cannot on its own, seek to interpret documents and come to its own conclusion.

In an earlier report, CAG had stated that Sistema Shyam Teleservices had received an undue benefit of Rs 1,626.32 crore.

According to rules and regulations of the unified access service licences, the set-off allowed was not in the nature of refund as it was allowed only to companies that participated and were successful in the auction, DoT communicated.

In March, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, which operates under the MTS brand in India, won 3.75 MHz of spectrum in Delhi, Kolkata, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (West) & West Bengal for Rs 3,639 crore.

However, the company does not require to pay anything this year, as Rs 1,626 crore was adjusted with what it had paid in 2008 for the licences which were quashed by the Supreme Court order that cancelled 122 operating permits in February 2012.

The company had, after auction, said that the entire amount will be adjusted with the first instalment, and it will have to pay Rs 2,013 crore in 10 equated instalments starting March 2016. So, the company will have to pay Rs 201.30 crore every year starting 2016.