The Supreme Court has stated that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) can scrutinise the books of private telecom operators that share revenue with the government for using spectrum.

According to the Supreme Court, CAG can carry out examination into the economy, efficacy and effectiveness with which the Union of India has used its resources, and whether it has realised the entire licence fee, spectrum charges and also whether the Union has correctly carried out the audit under the unified access service licence agreement.

It has further stated that CAG’s examination of accounts of service providers is extremely important to ascertain whether there is an unlawful gain to the service provider and an unlawful loss to the Union. This is because the revenue generated out of spectrum usage has to be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

The ruling by the apex court strengthens legal notion that non-state companies are subject to checks by the national auditor as long as they are involved in public-private partnership projects and similar ventures.