The government has collected over Rs 300 crore in penalties from new telecom service providers that failed to roll-out their networks within the stipulated timeframe after getting licences and spectrum.
"As of last Friday, we have received Rs 300.04 crore penalties, as against total claim of Rs 370.55 crore," Department of Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar told PTI.
The DoT had issued 119 notices to new telecom operators for missing their network roll-out obligations last month and imposed hefty penalties on them.
As per the conditions of the licences, the licencees were required to roll-out their services in 90 per cent of service areas in metros and 10 per cent in district headquarters within 12 months (52 weeks) from the date of award of licence.
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