COAI urges Govt for cut in levies, seeks relief measures

Industry body COAI has urged the Government for urgent rationalisation of “high burden” of regulatory levies on telecom service providers (TSPs), including a cut in spectrum charges and licence fee, as it cited adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector. In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) also made a plea for refund of the unutilised input tax credit immediately.

“Else, we request that soft loan at MCLR rate (marginal cost of funding-based lending rate) should be given to companies, using the GST input credit as collateral,” COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said in the letter dated June 26.