telecom-minister-rejects-refund-for-cellcos-overcharged-for-spectrum-threatens-to-defang-dot/
In an open house discussion telecom minister Kapil Sibal has all but ruled out a refund for providers that paid inflated prices for spectrum in late 2012 and has criticised the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for applying the maximum applicable fine for all infractions rather taking into consideration the severity of the case and adjusting the penalty appropriately. The Economic Times writes that the minister has blamed the DoT’s insistence on imposing maximum fines on concerns that failing to levy the maximum amount would draw accusations of corruption: ‘The officials fear that if they lessen the penalty, they might be held accountable.’ Sibal added that the problem has had harmful effects on the sector without benefiting the government, as the fines are usually blocked by the courts. On how to solve the problem, the minister threatened to withdraw the authority to issue fines from the DoT and hand the power to sister regulator the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): ‘I hope officials in my ministry apply their mind on every infraction and impose penalty commensurate with the nature of the fault. If they don’t do that, and I don’t see any progress on that, I will have to give that power to TRA.’
In an open house discussion telecom minister Kapil Sibal has all but ruled out a refund for providers that paid inflated prices for spectrum in late 2012 and has criticised the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for applying the maximum applicable fine for all infractions rather taking into consideration the severity of the case and adjusting the penalty appropriately. The Economic Times writes that the minister has blamed the DoT’s insistence on imposing maximum fines on concerns that failing to levy the maximum amount would draw accusations of corruption: ‘The officials fear that if they lessen the penalty, they might be held accountable.’ Sibal added that the problem has had harmful effects on the sector without benefiting the government, as the fines are usually blocked by the courts. On how to solve the problem, the minister threatened to withdraw the authority to issue fines from the DoT and hand the power to sister regulator the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): ‘I hope officials in my ministry apply their mind on every infraction and impose penalty commensurate with the nature of the fault. If they don’t do that, and I don’t see any progress on that, I will have to give that power to TRA.’
No comments:
Post a Comment