INDUSTRY
Bombay High Court quashes govt’s one-time spectrum charge on telecom companies
- IBJ Bureau
- Jun 09, 2026
The Bombay High Court has quashed the Centre’s 2012 decision to impose a one-time spectrum charge for spectrum held above 6.2 mhz from 2008 onwards.
The ruling comes as a relief to telecom companies, like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi).
A bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Shreeram Shirsat has also set aside demand notices issued by the Union government, seeking recovery of OTSC (one-time spectrum charge).
The bench has observed that the government, under the garb of public interest, has acted beyond the term of contract or licence between it and the telecom companies and has not been able to identify any source of power to issue the impugned decisions.
In their plea, the two telecom companies had argued that the government had no power to impose such one-time spectrum charge and that, too, retrospectively under the provisions of the Telegraph Act.
On November 8, 2012, the Union Cabinet had taken a decision that the one-time charge would be levied for spectrum held beyond 6.2 mhz from July 2008 onwards.
Consequently, demand notices were issued to the petitioners (Bharti Airtel and Vi), specifying the amounts payable by them towards the one-time spectrum charge.
The companies had moved the high court in January 2013 against the decision and the demand notices.
At the time, the high court had granted interim relief to the petitioners and said that no coercive action shall be taken against them pending the hearing.
Report By
View Reporter News