The government is expected to take a decision by next month on the cancellation of 85 of the total 122 licenses given by former telecom minister A. Raja in 2008 to ineligible firms without auctioning the scarce resource spectrum, which caused a presumptive loss of over Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
"We have received replies from all 85 licence holders who were issued showcause notices. We are legally examining them and should be able to take a decision on it in a month's time," telecom secretary R. Chandrasekhar said on Friday.
The secretary however, denied that any licence has been cancelled so far. Recently, there were reports that the department of telecom ( DoT) has cancelled Etisalat DB's licences in the Delhi and Mumbai circles.
The DoT had sent a showcause notice to Swan Telecom, now Etisalat DB, asking it to explain why its licences should not be cancelled for missing out on rollout obligations.
The telecom ministry has issued notices to firms on two issues - ineligibility to get licences and missing out on rollout obligations within the stipulated timeframe. The process of sending the notices would be completed within a week, the secretary said.
The DoT has to give 60 days to the operators to file their response to the showcause notice for cancellation of licences. In certain cases, 60 days are over while in some, there is still some time.
Raja is facing charges of issuing 122 licences in 2008 without auctioning the scarce resource spectrum, which caused a presumptive loss of over Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
The matter is being examined by various investigating agencies as well as a parliamentary panel. Notices have been issued to Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB), Datacom (now Videocon Telecom), S Tel, Uninor and others, either on the grounds of ineligibility or missing out on rollout obligations.
In its reply to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, the DoT again rejected the allegation of any notional loss due to the issuance of 122 new licences in 2008 and said the premium placed on the scarce resource from the perspective of a producer need not necessarily translate into a loss when seen from the view point of the consumer and public welfare.
The concept of notional loss when spectrum is given at a price discovered a few years earlier has to be balanced with the gains accruing to the consumers and the general improvement in public welfare in the form of faster economic growth, the DoT said. The PAC had sent 40 questions to the DoT relating to the 2G spectrum scam.
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