Telcos have to pay Rs 1.47 lakh cr in past dues; no proposal to waive off interest, penalty: Prasad

New Delhi, Nov 20 () Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies owe the government as much as Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past statutory dues, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Parliament on Wednesday adding that there is no proposal at present to waive interest and penalties on such dues.
In replies to separate questions in the Lok Sabha, Prasad said telecom companies owe the government Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee, and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.

These liabilities arose after the Supreme Court last month held that non-telecom revenues have to be considered for calculating statutory dues.

To a question on penalty imposed on telecom companies, Prasad said the outstanding SUC (spectrum usage charges) dues of various telecom service providers as on October 31, 2019, added to Rs 55,054 crore.