TDSAT upholds RCom petition against DoT on one-time spectrum charge

MUMBAI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and  Appellate  Tribunal (TDSAT) upheld Reliance Communications Ltd’s (RCOM) petition against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), challenging DoT’s decision to impose One-Time Spectrum Charge  (OTSC)  on  its  contracted  CDMA  and  GSM  spectrum resources on 4 February 2019.

Passing this order, TDSAT held that any telecom operator’s spectrum holdings of upto 5 MHz in the CDMA band and upto 6.2 MHz in the GSM band were exempt from any OTSC levies. TDSAT hence set aside the levy of OTSC on RCOM’s said spectrum.

TDSAT has also directed DoT to return Rs 2,000 crore bank guarantee to RCom as per its earlier order passed on 3 July 2018.