Telecom panel nod to slab-based penalties

DoT panel will now have a slab-based structure that would start from Rs 1 lakh with the highest being Rs 50 crore

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The Telecom Commission on Thursday approved a proposal to rationalise the penalty structure. Currently, there is a uniform fine of Rs 50 crore for any violation in the licence agreement.

Based on the views of a department of telecommunications panel, the Commission would have a slab-based structure starting from Rs 1 lakh and going till Rs 50 crore.

The panel had suggested examining violations on nine parameters. Warnings could lead to a penalty of Rs 1 lakh, minor violations Rs 1 crore, moderate Rs 5, major Rs 20 and severe Rs 50.

The panel had suggested examining a violation in terms of its impact on the exchequer, customers, public interest, national security, policy guidelines, etc. It noted after examining these, violations could be categorised under functional classifications like company, commercial, network, equipment, technical, service, operations, security and finance level to measure their impact. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in April 2012 had recommended classifying penalties in two categories, minor and major. It had suggested a maximum penalty of Rs 25 lakh in case of a minor violation and Rs 10 crore for a major one.

Most charges have been challenged in courts. According to industry estimates, the DoT has imposed total penalties of more than Rs 6,500 crore on telecom companies during the past few years. However, the Government has not been able to collect almost the entire amount that it has fined. The government has charged companies Rs 38,000 crore, if one-time fee is included.