When a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and P C Pant asked about the impact of spectrum auction on consumers from attorney general Mukul Rohatgi and counsel for private telecom players who have challenged the auction, senior advocate P Chidambaram for Reliance said the telecom companies were forced to participate in the auction to stay in business.
As Rohatgi declared the auction a "stupendous success" to the bench's question on workability of auction, Chidambaram said, "The auction methodology was faulty and there are serious questions of law. As for the impact, please wait for the next few days. Your next (mobile) bill will tell you (about the impact)."
The successful bidders in 600 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100MHz bands will have to deposit Rs 28,000 crore with the Centre by April 5. Moreover, they have to together pay Rs 81,000 crore more in the coming years for the spectrum allotted to them for 20 years, which they can use from December this year.
Chidambaram and senior advocate Gopal Jain, the latter appearing for Bharti and Idea, said the bidding was not competitive but compulsive. "Telecom players were forced to participate in the auction and bag spectrum to stay in business. The entire design of the notice inviting tender (NIT) is gloriously faulty."
Chidambaram said the telecom sector had already invested hugely to stay competitive. "With the present additional input of money, the telecom service providers would be forced to pass on the cost to the consumers. Every editorial in newspapers has criticized the auction. The rates are definitely going to go up. We are in business and we have to bid in the auction to stay in business," he said.
"There are so many micro classifications which are different for different circles. It is like the Centre decided to choose horses for courses. The methodology of auction distinctly favoured some players in certain telecom circles," Chidambaram said, questioning the fairness of the process.
The bench told the AG to reply to these charges when the court hears final arguments on petitions challenging the auction process. But Rohatgi termed these grievances of telecom players as "crocodile tears". "Each of you is worth more than Rs 50,000 crore. Let us not shed crocodile tears in the Supreme Court," he said.
http://ift.tt/1kuDWdc Court,spectrum auction,Reliance Telecom
Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.
via Business - Google News http://ift.tt/1HRrcoF
Put the internet to work for you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment