NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday admitted an appeal by the Union government challenging a decision of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The tribunal had stopped levying 8% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as licence fee from internet service providers (ISPs) under the unified license regime.
Appearing for the department of telecom (DoT), solicitor general Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud that TDSAT misconstrued the change of regime as absence of a level playing field and arrived at the erroneous decision. He said those who had taken licence under the old regime, which had exempted levy on those providing internet service, continued to avail the benefit till the validity period of their licences, while new entrants under the unified licence regime were charged for revenue earned from providing inter net services.
Mehta said after the TDSAT decision stopping levy on ISPs, there were instances where these entities had moved the tribunal for refund of the licence fee paid till October 2019. “The tribunal’s judgment will cause a grave loss to the exchequer,” Mehta said.
Appearing for an ISP, senior advocate Maninder Singh made an interesting argument: “The internet was the lifeline for citizens during the pandemic and it is as important as the Covid vaccine.”
The bench of Justices Chandrachud, Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna admitted the DoT’s appeal and posted it for final hearing in the second week of April. As an interim measure, it ordered, “The appellant (DoT) shall not be required to refund any amounts in pursuance of the impugned order of the TDSAT dated October 18, 2019. And the respondents shall, in the event the appeal succeeds, be subject to such final directions as may be passed by the court in its judgment.”
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