The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay the increased licence fee imposed by Municipal Corporation of Delhi on mobile tower operators for the signal towers installed by the latter.
A vacation Bench of Justice R. M. Lodha and Justice A. K. Patnaik however said that the cellular operators could pay 50 per cent of the increased fee levied on mobile towers by way of Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) and the MCD should not encash such FDRs till the dispute pending before the Delhi High Court was finally decided.
The Bench passed this order on a special leave petition filed by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) challenging the High Court order. The High Court had asked the COAI to pay 50 per cent of the increased charges in two equal parts; one by way of FDRs in any nationalised bank and other directly to the MCD.
The Bench did not accept the arguments of the mobile operators that the MCD had no authority to either impose or enhance the fees and that the latest move would adversely affect the companies and make the service unaffordable to consumers.
The grievance of the operators was that in 2003, the MCD charged Rs. one lakh as one time charges towards permission fee for putting up mobile tower on private property. This one-time payment of Rs. one lakh was valid for 20 years, which effectively meant Rs. 5000 per year. But on April 8 this year the MCD issued an order increasing the permission fee to Rs. one lakh per annum. Under the new policy, the cellular operators were to pay Rs. five lakhs for a five-year period.
MCD had told the High Court that out of 5,364 towers in the city, only 2,412 had requisite permission and the remaining 2,952 were illegal in all the city's 12 municipal zones.
Appearing for the Association, Senior Counsel Srinivasan Ganesh submitted that the rates had been hiked for unjust enrichment of the MCD and he questioned the locus standi of the MCD to levy increased surcharges on the mobile towers. He said the increased rates would result in increased operational costs and would deprive citizens of affordable world-class mobile telecom service.
Justice Lodha said “There is no hardship for you (operators). You are not someone who cannot pay. You can afford to pay it.” The Bench asked the operators to get their grievance redressed by the High Court in the main petitions listed for hearing on July 12.
