Telcos owe govt Rs 54,828 cr in licence, spectrum fee: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Telecom operators owe the government Rs 54,828.25 crore in licence fee, spectrum charges and arrears, of which Rs 44,380.91 crore is under litigation, Parliament was informed today.

The outstanding dues also include electro magnetic radiation penalty, CAF fine and MNP testing fee arrears.

"Out of the total outstanding of Rs 54,828.25 crore, the amount under litigation is Rs 44,380.91 crore pertaining to major telecom service providers," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He added that cases pending in various courts are closely monitored and suitable actions are being taken in consultations with senior law officers from time to time.

Total outstanding dues against Bharti Airtel are Rs 11,235.50 crore, followed by state-run BSNL Rs 9,936.26 crore, Vodafone 9,206.03 crore, Idea Cellular 5,435.41 crore, Reliance Communications Rs 6,355.43 crore and Reliance Telecom Rs 494.04 crore.

Also, Tata Teleservices owes Rs 3,472.52 crore and MTNL Rs 4,091.31 crore.