Bharti refund claim dismissed

In a major setback to Bharti, the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) today dismissed Bharti's petition for refund of Rs 135 crore paid by it as licence fee for entry into basic services prior to the new uniform licensing regime introduced by the government.

Bharti had moved the TDSAT last month after its plea was rejected by the DoT saying the entry fee was non-refundable.

Asked whether the company would challenge the TDSAT's ruling in the Supreme Court, a Bharti official said, "We are studying the judgement. After consulting legal experts, we will decide our future course of action.

"Because of regulatory changes, our basic telecom licences have become redundant and therefore we are seeking refund of the entry fee paid by the company," Bharti had said while moving the TDSAT.

The government had approved the policy of unified access service licence as per the decision of the Cabinet in October, 2003.

The detailed guidelines envisaged 'voluntary' migration of the existing basic and cellular service providers to uas regime, DoT had said.