Levy SUC on shared spectrum bands only, TDSAT tells DoT

New Delhi: The telecom tribunal has quashed an October 2022 Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) order, and subsequent demand notices, that sought to levy an additional 0.5% spectrum usage charge (SUC) on the whole bandwidth holding of operators sharing their airwaves and not just the specific bands that they are sharing.

This ruling is a win for top telcos Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, which have been asked by DoT to pay ₹1,600 crore and ₹300 crore, respectively, as additional SUC.

In its order pronounced on May 30, the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) held that the department can levy the incremental SUC of 0.5% only on the specific bands that are shared and not on the entire spectrum holdings of a telecom operator. DoT was of the view that a telco, in case of spectrum sharing, should pay the incremental 0.5% SUC for the entire spectrum holdings in a licensed service area.

The tribunal also slammed DoT for its "read and rejected" approach when it comes to the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the issue. In its recommendations in August 2020, the regulator had backed the view that the incremental SUC should be levied only on specific shared bands. It had reiterated the view in May 2023 as well, but DoT rejected the proposal on both occasions.



DoT has not disclosed the reasons for its decision to reject the Trai recommendations. Even otherwise, the tribunal said, the department had issued an order on the matter in October 2022, without back reference for Trai's recommendations.