SC seeks Airtel, Vi replies to govt plea on spectrum fees

The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea on the Centre’s appeal against the Bombay High Court verdict striking down the retrospective levy of one-time spectrum charges (OTSC). The levy, the demand for which was first raised in 2013, runs into about `22,000 crore across the industry, including Rs 3,300 crore in bank guarantees.

A Bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan issued notices to the telcos and indicated that it would decide at the next hearing whether the appeal should be heard along with a pending matter arising from the Madras High Court’s ruling in the Aircel case.