Airtel’s Sunil Mittal asks government to cut levies on telcos

Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal on Tuesday urged the government to walk the talk on the issue of reducing levies on the telecom sector. He said that, so far, the government has only given assurances but taken no action.

Speaking to a group of journalists at the ongoing Mobile World Congress, Mittal said government has already stated that revenue maximisation is not the top priority when it comes to telecom, so it needs to act now before it’s too late.

“The government needs to walk the talk. They need to reduce the licence fees, spectrum charges and GST. They have committed in their document (telecom policy) that this industry is overburdened, so there is no debate on that. I would say the government must be concerned about the sector.