The CPI(M) on Wednesday expressed its strong disapproval of the Telecommunications Department order asking the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to pay a higher licence fee than what was paid by private operators for 3G spectrum. The party demanded the withdrawal of the “unjust” order.
In a statement, the Polit Bureau said while private operators had been asked to pay the licence fee on their income, for the BSNL the yardstick was its revenue.
This would mean an additional burden of several thousand crores on the public sector undertaking.
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Demanding that the BSNL be allowed to pay the licence fee on a par with private operators, the Polit Bureau said the DoT order once again underlined the pro-private sector stance of the UPA government in general and of Telecommunications Minister A. Raja in particular.