Telecom MNCs face probe on licence

Four leading telecom MNCs —AT&T, BT, MCI Worldcom and Equant — may face penal action in India for providing long distance services without having a licence that may have caused revenue loss to the government.

Four leading telecom MNCs —AT&T, BT, MCI Worldcom and Equant — may face penal action in India for providing long distance services without having a licence that may have caused revenue loss to the government.

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After completing the preliminary investigation on behalf of the department of telecommunications (DoT), the CBI is ready to file a case against these companies for a thorough probe into the financial loss.

It is alleged that these four companies caused a loss to the exchequer by depriving DoT of licence fee — a one-time entry fee of Rs 25 crore (prior to January 1, 2006) plus 15 per cent of average gross revenue (AGR). From January 2006, the one-time entry fee was lowered to Rs 2.5 crore and 6 per cent of AGR.

Asked whether DoT would formally seek a CBI probe, in which case the agency would file an FIR to take the case forward, sources declined to give a specific comment but said the issue is being examined.

While the inquiry was on against these companies too, all the four MNCs created their Indian subsidiaries and applied for NLD/ILD licences, which were issued but by inserting a special clause in view of alleged irregularities found in their parent companies.