DoT, Trai differ over licence issue

While Trai is insisting that 74 licences be cancelled as a result of missing roll-out obligations, DoT wants that number to be just 12.

Trai, which obtained legal opinion from  two former judges of the Supreme Court, has stated in its letter to DoT that operators whose licences it wants cancelled failed to notify their tariffs, submitted their subscriber numbers and pay the license fee to the government.
According to the licence condition, the operators have to cover 10 per cent of the district headquarters within first year of allotment of spectrum. The 74 operators who failed to comply with the regulations qualify for license cancellation, according to Trai.

Though DoT has the right to ask for clarification to Trai in the event of disagreements, it has no choice but to follow the recommendation should Trai insist on it.

DoT sources confirmed to Deccan Herald that they indeed received the letter recommending cancellation of licences of the 74 operators which they are studying.

However, they refused tosay whether they would comply with the recommendations. 
The government is treading a careful line on the telecom issue, which has become contentious after the spectrum scam currently being investigated by the CBI under the Supreme Court’s supervision. A senior DoT official pointed out that refusing to comply with Trai recommendation could be potentially embarrassing for the government.