RCom contests CAG claim of excess shareholding in Swan Telecom

Contesting the claim of government auditor CAG, Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications today said that it had no shareholding in Swan Telecom at the time of the grant of licence to it or any time thereafter.

Contesting the claim of government auditor CAG, Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications on Wednesday said that it had no shareholding in Swan Telecom at the time of the grant of licence to it or any time thereafter.

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"Our group had no shareholding in Swan Telecom (now Etisalat DB) at the time of grant of licence to them or any time thereafter, and that issue is accordingly not relevant to our company," RCom said in a statement.

Highlighting irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation, the CAG has said that Swan Telecom, one of the companies that got the licence, appeared to act as a "front company" on behalf of Reliance Telecom and doubted the latter's "intention".

Reliance Communications, the company statement said, has always been in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, and there has been no violation of our licence conditions at any stage on account of cross-holdings in excess of 10%.

As per existing guidelines, a company can not own more than 10% stake in two operators.