The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has quashed a Rs 720 million penalty imposed by the Department of Telecommunications on Reliance Communications (RCOM).

Earlier in November 2011, DoT had imposed the penalty on RCOM for non-submission and delayed submission of customer acquisition forms (CAFs) in the Madhya Pradesh circle. The operator had failed to submit CAFs from July 2011 to November 2011.

In this regard, RCOM had contended that it was unable to produce the CAFs to DoT as they were stored in a warehouse and a dispute had arisen with the warehouse owner, which had sought restriction from the Bangalore city court on the access to the forms. In 2012, RCOM had approached TDSAT challenging the penalty, citing it was arbitrary and unjustified.

Subscribers are required to complete the CAFs and submit the proof of identity as well as address to their mobile operator, which in turn needs to produce it to DoT.