The government has lowered the penalty on telecom operators for delays in rolling out their networks from Rs 4.77 billion to Rs 1.36 billion. The move follows repeated representations by the operators who claimed delays in statutory clearances and grant of spectrum as some of the factors responsible for the delayed rollouts. According to the latest calculation sheet, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) has to pay a penalty of Rs 410 million, Bharti Airtel Rs 310 million and Reliance Communications (RCOM) Rs 196.5 million.

Meanwhile, the government has imposed a penalty of Rs 320 million on mobile operators, including Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), for failing to adhere to the subscriber verification norms in 2008-09.

With a penalty of Rs 1,000 for each unverified subscriber, the number of such users comes to about 320,000.