The Attorney General (AG) of India has opined that the proposed Swachh Bharat cess cannot be imposed on telecom companies through an executive order. This comes as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been mulling levying the cess on the telecom companies.

AG reckons that the government will have to amend the Finance Act to levy a cess on telecom companies. It further added that the cess can be imposed as a percentage of service tax and should not be restricted to just the telecom companies. While a final decision on the architecture of the proposed levy is yet to be taken, the levy will, reportedly, be imposed from next financial year onwards.

The Cabinet had earlier asked DoT to explore the possibility of slapping a levy on spectrum user charges of telecom companies to fund its Swachch Bharat campaign. The industry had opposed the move calling it anti-investor and ill-timed, given the upcoming spectrum auctions.