“We believe that some of the eligibility necessary for the grant of a licence may not have been in place when the companies sought licences,” new telecom minister Kapil Sibal said on Monday, adding that one eligibility criteria under the scanner is that at the time of application these new firms didn’t have memorandums of association to
do business in telecom and that a second deals with the required paid-up equity capital. “Under the terms of licence we have to give them 60 days to respond. Once they respond we shall carefully consider it and take a decision with respect to each case depending on the merit,” said Mr Sibal.
Trai had recommended that 69 licenses be cancelled for not meeting rollout obligations. A senior telecom department official said the majority of the firms asked to pay penalties are those recommended by Trai. The telecom regulator had recommended action against Loop, Etisalat (Swan), Uninor, Sistema, Videocon and Aircel,
“In the event the rollout obligation is not complied with within 52 weeks they are even liable for cancellation (of licence) as well,” said Mr Sibal. He said the purpose of his action is to bring transparency in the telecom ministry. “We hope that this gives a message to those who may have tried to seek advantage by the process,” added Mr Sibal.