New Delhi : Tata Teleservices, Telenor, Videocon and Reliance Jio are among five telecom firms that have understated revenues by over Rs 14,800 crore, resulting in a short fall of nearly Rs 2,578 crore to the exchequer, the union government’s auditor said on Tuesday.
As per the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), tabled in Parliament, the union government was paid Rs 1,015.17 crore less in licence fee, Rs 511.53 crore in spectrum usage charge, and Rs 1,052.13 crore as interest applicable on delay in payment.
The five telecom companies named by the CAG are Tata Teleservices, Telenor, Videocon Telecom, Qaudrant (a Videocon group firm) and Reliance Jio. The government collection from Tata Teleservices is short by Rs 1,893.6 crore, Telenor – Rs 603.75 crore, Videocon – Rs 48.08 crore, Quadrant – Rs 26.62 crore and Jio – Rs 6.78 crore for licence fee, SUC and applicable interest charges.
The government auditor said in the report: “To sum up the verification of records of five private sector players (PSPs) by audit indicated total understatement of adjusted gross revenue) (AGR) of Rs 14,813.97 crore for the period up to 2014-15 and consequent short payment of revenue share on Government of India to the tune of Rs 1,526.7 crore.”