Govt notice to telecom - due payment; Paraliament: Reduce due amount

Government has sent notices to telecom companies for the due amount and interest rates which the telecom companies owe to the government. Five telecom companies have received notice from the government including Tata and Jio.

A parliamentary panel wants the government to slash levies on telecom companies to ensure faster expansion of telecom and digital networks, which is essential for the success of the Digital India programme.

The parliamentary standing committee on finance, in a draft titled Transformation towards a digital economy, says: "Festering issues relating to the debt-ridden telecom sector (which is relatively in the nascent stage) with a levy imposed in the range of 25-29% of revenue, require to be squarely addressed on urgent basis. All hurdles on this count should be removed forthwith so that telecom/digital network can expand fast while ensuring service quality to the public."

The panel, headed by former law minister Veerappa Moily, also wants sharing of networks among all telecom companies, including those in the public sector, and "right of way" from state agencies for telecom service providers while building their infrastructure.