In a first step towards undoing past irregularities in his ministry, new telecom minister Kapil Sibal has decided to issue notices regarding cancellation of licences to those telecom firms that obtained these by making false claims in 2008 and to impose penalties on telecos that have failed to fulfil their rollout obligations.
The ministry has also decided to ask the corporate affairs ministry to investigate whether Swan Telecom is a front company of the Anil Ambani group, as alleged in a report by the CAG. The telecom ministry will issue showcause notices for 85 licences to new operators asking why their licences should not be cancelled for faking eligibility criteria to offer telecom services in the country. The telecom ministry has also decided to impose penalties for 119 licences, the majority of which are with new players, for failing to meet rollout obligations. Of these 119, 81 licences are getting showcause notices for both faking eligibility criteria and failing to meet rollout obligations. The CAG in its report had said that 85 of the 122 licences issued by A. Raja were ineligible. These firms, as per the CAG report, are Uninor, Allianz Infratech (merged with Etisalat DB), Loop Telecom, Videocon Telecommunications and STel.