Regulator backs telcos seeking govt help to ease financial stress

Telecom regulator RS Sharma has backed operators seeking government support to alleviate their financial stress, saying the rationalisation of levies will attract investments and push overall sector growth. The National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP), in saying that profit maximisation is not the government’s objective, had finally “addressed a long-standing demand of the private telecom operators, as it acknowledged that rationalisation of taxation structure could foster growth of the sector,” the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said at the third ET Telecom India Mobile Conclave.

The NDCP approved by the government last year aims to create 4 million jobs and draw $100 billion in investments in the telecom sector by 2022, apart from boosting the sector’s contribution to GDP to 8% from 6% currently. Sharma said the government didn’t have to get revenue from one particular aspect of business through heavy taxation. Instead, rationalising taxes would allow more funds to be ploughed back into the business and more investments would lead to more jobs and ultimately, more revenue to the government.