Communications minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said that telecom operators who missed the deadlines for the rollout of 2G services paid Rs 73.73 crore penalty and the government had not ruled out cancelling their licences.
"We had generated demand for over Rs 78 crore, of which the operators have submitted Rs 73.73 crore," Sibal told reporters in New Delhi.
The total penalty for missing out the rollout obligations amounts to Rs 219 crore.
The minister said that Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom, Uninor, Sistema-Shyam and Aircel have paid the penalty so far, adding that more notices to erring operators would be issued.
He said that his ministry is still discussing whether licences of such operators should be cancelled or not. "A decision will be taken after due consideration."
Earlier in December, the government had issued showcause notices to these firms and had given them 15 days to respond.
Etisalat DB paid Rs 9.9 crore while Sistema-Shyam Teleservices Ltd shelled out Rs 11 crore for imposition of liquidated damages towards rollout obligations to the department of telecommunication.
Uninor, a joint venture between India's Unitech and Norway's Telenor also paid the penalty but said that the ministry had not considered various factors that led to the delay, including last minute pre-launch testing.
{{/usCountry}}Uninor, a joint venture between India's Unitech and Norway's Telenor also paid the penalty but said that the ministry had not considered various factors that led to the delay, including last minute pre-launch testing.
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