The Hindu Business Line : TRAI gets notice on ADC petition

The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Tuesday issued notice to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on a petition filed by the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), challenging the regulator's order to reduce access deficit charge (ADC).

The TDSAT Chairman, Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, has given TRAI two weeks to file its reply and posted the matter for hearing on May 17.

Amount inadequate

BSNL's view is that the amount collected under the new regime was inadequate to support 1.4-crore fixed line telephone connections in the rural areas.

TRAI had introduced the new ADC regime from March 1 onwards, which was responsible in bringing down the total kitty from Rs 5,200 crore to just over Rs 3,000 crore. BSNL has sought it to be raised above Rs 10,000 crore.

Resulted in loss

Though the TRAI order enabled operators to bring down long distance tariffs by 60 per cent and introduce One India tariffs, it resulted in a loss of Rs 1,800 crore to BSNL.

Ninety per cent of the amount collected through the ADC accrues to BSNL since it has the largest rural network in the country.

BSNL officials said the reduction in the amount was arbitrary and illegal. "TRAI has said that the ADC is depleting regime.

"We want to know the rationale for taking such a stance. The number of rural telephone lines that BSNL is offering has not changed, so why is the amount given to us to subsidise these connections being reduced.

"In fact, we should be getting Rs 13,000 crore as was decided by TRAI in the first place," said a BSNL official.

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