The Ministry of Communications and IT has reported that of the Rs 107 billion worth of penalties charged by Department of Telecommunications (DoT) since 2011-12, only Rs 4.5 billion has been realised so far.  The ministry has attributed non-realisation of penalties by DoT to the judicial intervention in various cases.

DoT has imposed penalties on telecom operators for several violations related to licensing, radiation and roaming norms. These telecom operators are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).  The telecom operators have been of the view that DoT imposes maximum penalty even for procedural lapses and minor offences. Thus, with most companies approaching the courts against the penalties, the realisation has been less. DoT is now working on implementing a graded-penalty system, which would entail lower penalties for minor lapses and higher for offences which are anti-competitive or against the interest of mobile subscribers.

In 2011-12, the total penalties imposed by DoT stood at Rs 11.33 billion, while the realised amount was Rs 2.06 billion. In 2012-13, the penalties were Rs 7.19 billion, while the realised amount was Rs 1.08 billion, and in 2013-14, the total penalties were Rs 79.23 billion, while the realised amount was Rs 1.28 billion. In 2014-15, penalties worth Rs 9.46 billion have been imposed so far, while the realisation has been Rs 40 million.