Telecom industry expects license fee reduction in Budget 2020

The telecom industry, which is being plagued by losses originating from the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) and hyper competition, is expecting the Government to reduce license fee in the upcoming Budget.

“The industry has bitten the bullet and increased the tariffs. Now we are seeking for a reduction in license fee, for which we made a representation to the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week,” Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director-General Rajan S Mathews told BusinessLine.

“We have requested a reduction in license fee to 3 per cent from the present 8 per cent of the revenue earned and slashing of Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) to 1 per cent from about 6 per cent currently,” Mathews added.