Reliance Infocomm to pay Rs. 40 crores to BSNL

Reliance Infocomm to pay Rs. 40 crores to BSNL

The Indian Supreme Court has ordered Reliance Infocomm to pay around Rs. 40 crores to the state owned telecom firm BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited). This order comes as a setback for the company as the court has ordered them to pay this amount as the levy on fixed wireless phone service.

BSNL has originally demanded Rs 160 crores from the private telecom operators out of which the company has already paid around Rs 10 crores. This directive to pay an additional Rs. 40 crores has come from the Division Bench of Justice, Mr. Arijit Pasayat and Justice Mr. S H Kapadia.

This order comes after TDSAT passed a judgment last month stating that fixed wireless phone services offered by Reliance Infocomm were equivalent to a limited mobile service. This makes them liable to pay charges such as access deficit charge. Reliance has then taken this issue to the Supreme Court and has now practically lost the case.