Breather for telecom operators from paying Rs 141 cr penalty over spam

New Delhi: India's telecom operators need not pay penalties to the tune of ₹141 crore till August 8 for failing to control spam. The regulator had levied the fines on the telcos, but Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has put off the payments till the next date of hearing in the case.

Adjourning the matter till next month, the tribunal had at a hearing Thursday asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to submit an affidavit on the matter.

Both sides presented their arguments during the hearing. As Trai has to share further information, the tribunal asked the counsel for the regulator to file an affidavit containing the requisite details.

The regulator had levied penalties on all three private telcos-Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea-as well as state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for failing to control spam.

However, the private operators had challenged the move, arguing that the regulator should not have levied the penalties when an anti-spam platform was still in the process of development.

TDSAT had stayed Trai's penalties in January.

The fines were levied as part of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR). The telcos argue that the delay in implementation of spam control measures was caused due to Covid and that they were not responsible for it.

To support their point, the telcos submitted details to the TDSAT stating that when Trai imposed the penalties, the digital consent acquisition (DCA) platform was still being deployed.

While staying the penalties in its January 28 order, the TDSAT had observed that telecom firms were not responsible for the delay in implementation of the regulations, including the DCA.

"Thus, it is unfair and arbitrary on the part of the respondent to impose financial disincentives on the appellants (telcos) for something which was beyond their control," TDSAT had said in the order.

The levying of penalties on telecom firms as part of the TCCCPR has been a point of dispute between the regulator and the telcos. While the regulator has been imposing penalties on telcos, it has not realised any money as operators contended that they should not be held accountable for something which they don't control or perpetuate.

Failing to get the amount itself, the regulator had even asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to encash the bank guarantees of the companies to recover the amount. But DoT has not agreed to the request.