USO fund: Half the money meant for telecom used elsewhere

The case for reducing the universal service obligation levy on telecom service providers gets strengthened once again with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) highlighting its short transfer to the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and instead it being retained in the Consolidated Fund of India for other purposes.

In its report on the Union government accounts for 2018-19, the CAG has noted: “The issue of short transfer of the levy to the USO Fund has been brought out in successive reports of the CAG on the Union Accounts for the years 2009-10 to 2014-15 but is yet to be corrected.”