Maran: Tough stand

New Delhi, Feb. 10: Dayanidhi Maran has turned combative ? and he is getting ready for a slugfest with the country?s telecom titans.

After adopting a belligerent stand against Reliance Infocomm for its alleged violations of licence conditions, the Union communications and IT minister has now trained his guns at Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti group.

Maran said today the government would not refund the Rs 145 crore that the Bharti group had paid for migrating from its basic service licence to a universal access service licence (UASL).

The minister?s truculent talk sets the stage for another fierce round of legal battle in the litigation-prone telecom industry.

The issue arises from the government?s decision to allow telecom operators to migrate to a universal licensing regime by converging their existing licences. This is a two-step process: first the telecom operators switched over to a universal access service licence last November. By the middle of this year, they will shift to a universal licence, which will allow operators to offer a suite of telecom services.

Operators like Bharti, who held cellular and basic licences, feel that they have been badly shortchanged because of the change. Bharti reckons that it is stuck with a basic licence that is of little use. Its cellular licence, when it morphs into a full-scale universal licence, will allow it to offer basic telephony services as well. This is why it is asking for a refund. The case is now before the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Maran?s observation today is significant and points to the argument that the department of telecommunications (DoT) will put forward before the tribunal.

The company has sought for a refund since the government had changed the licence policy in 2003 by ushering in the UASL. This did not take into account fixed and mobile licences being held by the same group in the same service area, thereby resulting in a redundant licence.

Bharti has UASL in the Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh circles.

The company had approached the government for a refund, but the demand was turned down by former communications minister Arun Shourie. Bharti had then approached the TDSAT.

The government?s refusal to offer a refund did not have any effect on the company. A senior company executive said, ?The matter is sub-judice and we are confident that justice would be done.?

Maran made his comments ? his first in relation to the spat with Bharti ? on the sidelines of an awards presentation function organised by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council.

Maran emphasised the need for a close-government and IT Industry partnership to ensure the IT industry?s competitiveness and increase its access to foreign markets. He said the electronics and information technology sectors have maintained sustained growth over the last few years.

India?s exports in electronics and computer software during 2003-04 were about $14.28 billion, of which software and services touched $12.60 billion. The latest studies reveal that the IT and IT-enabled services sector would be able to earn nearly $50 billion of exports by 2008.

Maran said India has been recognised as a preferred hub for setting up hardware design centres. The country has the potential to become producer of designs, embedded software, while IT-enabled services and business process outsourcing will continue to play a significant role in solving the unemployment issue.

Maran said, ?They not only provide employment opportunities to the women but also bridge the gender inequality. The IT industry is aware of the emerging competition from various other developing countries and in that scenario it would be our constant endeavour to promote innovation and improve the IT infrastructure.?