Action recommended to govt against erring cos: TRAI to SC

NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator TRAI, which has come under scanner for its alleged inaction in 2G spectrum allocation scam, today told the Supreme Court that it had from time to time recommended to the government action against erring companies, including cancellation of licences of Idea cellular and Spice telecom for some circles.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said the two companies failed to fulfill roll-out obligations and their merger was in violation of rules.

"The authority (TRAI) wrote to DoT that Idea and Spice are in violation of the terms and conditions pertaining to roll-out obligations and the merger between the two companies is in violation of the guidelines for the Intra-Service area merger," it said in its its 19-page affidavit.

"Hence, the licenses of Idea in Punjab and Karnataka service area and Spice in respect of Maharashtra, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh service area may be cancelled," the regulator said.

The regulator also submitted it had recommended to the government in November last year to take punitive action against the telecom companies for not fulfilling their roll-out obligations.

"The authority wrote to DoT stating that 69 licenses out of 130 did not fulfill the mandatory roll-out obligations and recommended that immediate necessary action be taken by the DoT against them," TRAI said.