PAC asks DoT to provide list of all pending litigations, grills pvt players on improving rural connectivity

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) A key parliamentary committee on Tuesday flagged the poor service by private operators in rural and remote areas, and also sought details from the Department of Telecom (DoT) on its pending litigations, which it noted were causing revenue losses to the government.

Noting that the CAG had pointed to the loss of revenue for the DoT in litigation, the committee asked the Public Accounts Committee, headed by Congress member K C Venugopal, to provide details of all pending cases within 15 days, sources said.

The sources added that the panel has also asked for a report on different telecom service providers' coverage and enhancement in infrastructure, like new towers, within 15 days, as this will help it identify deficiencies in services, if any.

The committee noted that the losses caused to the state exchequer were mainly due to a series of litigations pending in courts, the sources said, adding that due to a lack of proper follow-up and consequent delays, the losses to the government were increasing.

It was also pointed out during the meeting that private players were not able to provide better connectivity in rural areas, despite having better infrastructure, and BSNL was able to do that, the sources said.

"They actually grilled the telecom operators about the frequent criticism of their services, including call drop, from the public," a source said, adding some members highlighted that private operators make tall claims but do not really pay attention to the quality of services in remote and border areas.

"The private players were asked to submit a report within 15 days on why no efforts were made by them to improve connectivity and services in rural areas," a source said.

The sources said the Parliamentary panel, in its meeting held on Tuesday, discussed the CAG audit report on revenue sharing by telecom service providers with the government from 2018 to 2022 that pointed out several serious lapses.

The CAG report had pointed out delays in reporting gross profits by Telecom companies, 'misrepresentation' of facts, under-staffing in the Department of Telecom and its litigation costs, causing huge losses to the state exchequer.

Several MPs during the PAC meeting gave suggestions on ways to improve the public telecom company and improve services provided by private players.

The PAC's meeting agenda was to discuss a CAG audit report on "revenue sharing by telecom service providers with the government.

After the meeting, Venugopal said, "We thoroughly discussed the issues related to common public grievances." Sources said MPs also asked the department about the ongoing exercise to connect all village panchayats with an optical fibre network and were told that its third phase is currently on.

The committee asked the department to share the details of goals attained in the first two phases, sources said.

Citing a case study, committee members noted that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which was represented by its secretary Neeraj Mittal, lost the chance to levy Rs 577.26 crore against service providers and quizzed officials on the reasons for such a "staggering difference" between provisional and final assessment, the sources said.

The audit report had flagged underassessment of revenue worth 2463,67 crore, which the department is in process of recovering from various operators.

Officials told the committee that the DoT revenue, including licence fee plus spectrum usage charges, has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 9.39 per cent since 2020-21, rising to Rs 30,261 crore from Rs 21,133 crore.

They also pointed out that a host of policy initiatives have helped the BSNL turn a net profit. A source said that most MPs were of the view that public sector operators needed to expand and boost its infrastructure and services.

Officials said the DoT has taken a host of measures to address the issues flagged by the CAG. Over 2,300 officials, including 1,683 assistant accounts officers who are deemed critical to the assessment process, were recruited in 2018, 2022 and 2025 to facilitate revenue collection and assessment, according to the sources.

Key functionaries of Airtel, Jio, Vodafone and BSNL, besides representatives of the CAG, also attended the meeting. PTI KR/SKC RT RT