SC to DoT: File affidavit stating Airtel will pay lesser SUC than new companies

The country’s apex court — Supreme Court — has asked the government to file an affidavit stating that telecom operator Bharti Airtel will have to pay lesser spectrum usage charges (SUCs) to be paid by telecom operator Bharti Airtel. The court directed Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to file an affidavit stating that Airtel will have to pay lower SUCs in comparison with the new players who were allotted airwaves under the 2016 auction.

According to a report in Economic Times, the bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, while hearing the DoT appeal, told additional solicitor general Vikramjit Banerjee that the the department should file “an affidavit stating on oath” that Bharti Airtel in terms of the sectoral tribunal’s order “would be liable to pay lower/lesser SUCs in comparison with the new players who were allotted spectrum under the 2016 telecom policy/auction”.