DoT amends telecom licence norms to relax penal provisions

The DoT has amended licence norms to rationalise the interest rate for delayed payment of licence fee, a move that is expected to ease financial burden on the telecom sector and promote ease of doing business. The department will now charge 2 per cent interest above the one-year marginal cost of lending rate (MCLR) of State Bank of India for delay in payment of licence fees or any other statutory dues and the interest will be compounded annually.

Earlier, telecom firms were required to pay 4 per cent interest above the one-year MCLR of SBI and the interest was compounded monthly.