Even BSNL and MTNL acted the same way as us on licence fee: Bharti Airtel

Telco says BSNL and MTNL, which are arms of DoT, also paid licence fee on the same basis

In its petition to the Supreme Court, Bharti Airtel has said it was not involved in any ‘wilful default’ of its licence fee dues. It was responding to the court’s ruling last week ordering Bharti and four other telcos to pay Rs 147,000 crores as dues with interest, penalty, and interest on penalty. The court order effectively upheld the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) calculation of the licence fee and the demand that it be paid.

Last week, Bharti filed a review petition against the Supreme Court order and asked for a waiver of the interest, penalty, and the interest on penalty