Indian telecom firms are likely to get a long- awaited reprieve from a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) judgment that seeks to slash the fees that carriers will have to pay to government.
This may eventually be passed on to consumers as tariff cuts.
The decision favors the re-definition of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of telecom providers which has been used for nearly a decade.
The TRAI has been recommending this for the past 4 years, but the Department of Telecommunications is not supporting the recommendation.
However, the TDSAT earlier questioned the department's reasons for rejecting the TRAI's recommendations and referred the case back to the regulator.
This definition is critical because all operators are required to pay between 6% to 10% revenue shares on the AGR.
Since the burden of such revenue share is invariably borne by consumers, it has a bearing on the prices that service providers can offer.
Operators say the judgment addresses a long-standing industry demand.
The TDSAT has directed the TRAI to reconcile inputs of all parties and revert within three months.