Courts rule in favour of Airtel, Idea, Aircel on one-time fee

BANGALORE, INDIA: Telecom service providers Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Aircel have been granted a breather on one-time fee for excess 2G spectrum, as per a report on Business Standard.

While Bombay High Court ruled in favour of Airtel and Idea and granted the former a stay till February 24 and March 1 for Idea, Madras High Court favoured Aircel, who is facing a burden of Rs 1,400 crore due to the fee.

An official statement from Aircel said: "Aircel Group (Aircel Limited / Aircel Cellular Limited / Dishnet Wireless Limited) has received a stay order in its favour on Jan 28th, 2013, in all the 3 writ petitions filed before the High Court of Madras (by order passed by Justice Venkataraman), regarding one time spectrum fee intended to be levied by DoT on the Aircel Group. Notice to DoT has been ordered by the court.