New Delhi, Nov 12: Reliance Infocomm will have to shell out Rs 526 crore towards penalty for offering roaming like services on its WLL phones, instead of Rs 485 crore recommended by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. As per the calculations of Department of Telecom, Reliance would be required to pay Rs 1096.01 crore entry fee, in case the company decides to migrate to the new unified access services licence regime, besides a penalty of Rs 526 crore (Rs 41 crore more than TRAI figure), sources said.
When contacted, TRAI Chairman Pradip Baijal told reporters "we had given the indicative amount..final figure has to be of DoT."
The difference in amount could be due to the different prime lending rate (PLR) considered by TRAI and DoT for calculating the accumulated penal interest, sources said adding trai is believed to have considered PLR in a different year whereas dot has calculated the amount based on constant PLR on the date they (Reliance) signed the licence agreement.
Sources also said the penalty amount has also gone up as the interest for the month of November would be added.
In case they (Reliance Infocomm) decide to migrate to the unified access services licence in the month of December, the penalty amount could go up further.
Bureau Report