The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to seek legal opinion from the Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Legal Affairs, on filing a plea to seek transfer of writ petitions filed by mobile operators in various courts, including Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to the Supreme Court. DoT is of the view that due to the interim stay granted by these courts, there has been no development in several cases and they are therefore pending. As the cases involve government revenue, DoT believes that the move will lead to quick disposal of the pending petitions in order to avoid huge losses to the public exchequer. 

DoT had issued orders regarding charging of one-time spectrum charge on December 28, 2012 and March 15, 2013 to various operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications (RCOM), Aircel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL). Subsequently, Airtel, Idea, TTSL and RCOM had approached the Bombay High Court; Aircel, the Madras High Court; and Reliance Telecom, the Calcutta High Court while Vodafone and Loop Mobile had approached TSDAT challenging the imposition of one-time spectrum charge.

DoT had issued a demand of Rs 52.01 billion for Bharti Airtel, Rs 35.99 billion for Vodafone, Rs 18.82 billion for Idea Cellular, Rs 13.51 billion for Aircel, Rs 3.05 billion for RCOM and Rs 1.73 for Reliance Telecom. The department had also issued demand of Rs 69.11 billion for BSNL, Rs 32.05 billion for MTNL and Rs 2.32 billion for TTSL.