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Cellular operators owe Rs 12.62 billion in licence fees

DoT sources say all the operators with the exception of BPL US West, Escotel Mobile and Bharti Telenet have defaulted on fee payments.

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JT Mobile, the licence holder for the Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab circles, tops the list with total outstanding dues of Rs 4.68 billion - Rs 1.58 billion for Karnataka, Rs 1.13 billion for Andhra Pradesh and Rs 1.96 billion for Punjab.

Koshika Telecom follows with Rs 1.93 billion for its four circles. While the company's outstanding dues for the UP (East) circle amounts to Rs 830.4 million, its dues for the UP (West) circle make up Rs 623.8 million.

Koshika's dues of Rs 353.4 million for the Orissa circle and Rs 128 million for the Bihar circle make up the rest.

The Hinduja-led Fascel, which has the Gujarat licence, owes Rs 1.63 billion as licence fees. Birla AT&T closely follow it with outstanding dues of Rs 1.56 billion (Rs 815.5 million for Gujarat and Rs 753.5 million for Maharashtra).

The other major defaulters include Aircell Digilink, which owes Rs 1.33 billion - Rs 685.4 million for UP (East), Rs 434 million for Rajasthan and Rs 218.1 million for Haryana). Modicom owes Rs 604.3 million (Rs 316.6 million for Karnataka and Rs 287.7 million for Punjab. Tata Communications has to pay Rs 455 million for Andhra Pradesh. Hexacomm owes Rs 261.1 million (Rs 260.4 million for Rajasthan and Rs 75 million for the Northeast). And Reliance Telecom has an outstanding of Rs 149.6 million (Rs 89.9 million for Orissa, Rs 34.1 million for Bihar, Rs 11.6 million for Madhya Pradesh, Rs 9.75 million for West Bengal, Rs 3.4 million for Himachal Pradesh, Rs 250,000 for the Northeast and Rs 300,000 for Assam).

According to sources, the bulk of the default has occurred during the last two quarters, when the cash flow situation of operators worsened.

In fact, a study commissioned by DoT and conducted by the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India on the financial health of the cellular operators had warned of widespread defaults if measures to help the cellular industry were not taken immediately.

The study had suggested an extension in the cellular licence period from the present 10 to 15 years and a two-year moratorium on payment of licence fees, which is at present under consideration.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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