New Delhi, Feb. 27: The Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) is likely to give its verdict soon on the department of telecommunication's (DoT) allegation that Reliance Infocomm violated licence conditions.

Legal eagles feel that the judgment will set a precedent in the telecom sector.

The TDSAT has reserved judgment on Reliance?s appeal, challenging the penalty of Rs 150 crore imposed by the government for illegal routing of international calls as local ones.

A senior DoT counsel said, ?If the order directs Reliance to pay up, the department can take action against other operators who have been sent a showcause notice. If the order is that there is no evidence of violation, the method used by Reliance can become a norm.?

The counsel said, ?The ?home country direct service? is definitely a cheaper option for operators to bring down the ISD tariff that can be on a par with a local call.?

Using this service, an operator can use a network abroad to send and receive calls directly into its network in India, without going through the network of BSNL.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has alleged that Reliance has used this method to avoid access deficit charge (ADC). The ADC is given to BSNL for offering service in rural and inaccessible areas.

While the arguments concluded in the middle of this month, the DoT has been asked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to explain whether the private telecom operators, including BSNL and Mahangar Telephone Nigam Ltd, are carrying calls that cannot be traced and tracked.

The home country service is being claimed by operators as part of their licences for international long distance and unified access service.

According to a senior official in DoT, the CBI has initiated the probe suo-motu and has asked the department and private operators to submit details of international telecom traffic that is alleged to have been routed using the home country method.

A number of illegal telephone exchanges were busted in Tamil Nadu and Kerala during the last two months. The matter was brought to the notice of CBI and DoT was asked to examine the issue.

DoT sources said, ?Along with private telecom companies, a few lines of BSNL were also alleged to have been used for illegal routing of call. We are examining the issue. But in case of Reliance we have enough evidence that indicates that they have used to method to divert the STD calls as local call.?