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Govt hiding ₹45K-cr telecom scam: Cong
NEW DELHI: In its latest attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Thursday alleged that the NDA government is trying to sweep a ₹45,000-crore telecom
NEW DELHI: In its latest attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Thursday alleged that the NDA government is trying to sweep a ₹45,000-crore telecom scam under the carpet.
The party cited a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)—the audit watchdog whose report on 2G spectrum landed the Congress in deep water— to allege that six telecom service providers had under-reported their income during 2006-07 to 2009-10, leading to revenue loss of ₹12,488.93 crore for the government. The companies mentioned in the report include Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Tata Indicom and Aircell.
“If loss of exchequer is calculated on the same formula for the years 2010-11 to 2015-16, the under-recovery of the government would be ₹45,000 crore. But instead of immediately acting to recover the money, Mo di government has asked for an alternative re-evaluation of CAG’s findings by telecom ministry’s empanelled chartered accountants,” said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
The Congress held Prime Minister Narendra Modi squarely responsible for the alleged attempt to cover-up the CAG report. “Without the direct or indirect involvement of the Prime Minister, the telecom ministry can’t appoint chartered accountants to review the country’s top audit body,” he said.
Refuting the allegations law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was the telecom minister before the cabinet reshuffle, said there is no underreporting case under the NDA government and that the government will recover all the dues with penalty.
“The entire allegation of Congress party is utterly bogus. It relates to period of between 2006-10. According to CAG reports some telecom companies underreported their revenues. The reports came in March, which I am given to understand, is under the examination of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC),” he said.
“Demands raised from this exercise will be recovered with due interest and penalty as applicable under licence agreements. There is therefore no loss of revenue to the government ,” the DoT said in a statement.
Under the new telecom licencing policy rolled out in 1999, licence fee for telecom companies is decided on the basis of adjusted gross revenue. Cellular service providers are also required to pay an additional ‘Spectrum Usage Charges ’(SUC), proportionate to income. The Congress alleged that due to under-declaration of income by the companies, the government lost ₹12,488.93 crore in four years and possibly ₹45,000 crore till 2016.
Drawing a comparison between the 2G scam, in which the BJP-led Opposition forced the UPA government to drop telecom minister A Raja, Surjewala said, “It was just a notional loss but the BJP made a hue and cry. But now, when actual loss has taken place, the BJP is trying to bury the CAG report in the dustbin of history.”
CAG had said in a report that 2G spectrum allocation caused a notional loss of ₹1.76 lakh crore.
