Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Mar 10, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Mar 10, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
Info-Tech
-
Telecommunications TDSAT dismisses Bharti's plea for entry fee refund Our Bureau
New Delhi , March 9 THE Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has dismissed Bharti Televenture's petition seeking refund of the entry fee paid for acquiring five basic telephony licences. The company had moved the tribunal after the Department of Telecom refused to refund the fee amounting to Rs 135 crore. Bharti had sought the refund on grounds that the basic licences had become redundant following the Government's decision to merge cellular and basic licences under the unified regime. Its officials said that the company was studying the judgment and would take future action in consultation with legal experts. The DoT had argued that since the Government had taken a decision that the entry fee was non-refundable, there was no case for making any exception in Bharti's case. It said that matters relating to refund or compensation due to policy changes was a prerogative of the Government. Bharti had acquired basic service licences in Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. However, the company had also taken licences for offering cellular services in these circles, which made its basic licences redundant in the new unified regime which allowed operators to offer all services after paying the due entry fee amount. Senior DoT officials said that if TDSAT had ruled in favour of Bharti, it could have resulted in opening the Pandora's box with other operators also making similar claims for refund.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2005, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|