Telecom secretary R Chandrasekhar has set a deadline of one month for taking action against companies found to be involved in the 2G scam.
Talking to reporters in Delhi today, Chandrasekhar, who has a reputation as a clean and no-nonsense technocrat, said all the 70 or so companies that have been sent notices for misrepresenting facts in their license applications have furnished their reply within the 90 day limit.
He said the Department is currently taking legal advice, presumably from the Law Ministry, on what action to take on each case. The show cause notices, issued four months ago, had asked why the licenses issued in 2008 to a clutch of companies such as Loop and Swan, may not be cancelled as they had misrepresented vital statistics about their companies when applying for the same.
“We expect that within the next one month, we should be able to take a view after taking into account the legal opinion on the issues involved,” he said.
He also said that in addition to the 120 or so notices issued to licensees for not starting their services on time, another 17 cases of such violations have come to notice. “Matter is still under examination, total number identified so are is 17,” he said.
In all the 120 cases, fines have been imposed and a total of more than Rs 300 crore has been collected. Raja had issued 105 licenses in early 2008 to a group of companies, primarily real estate players who used to deal with him in his earlier stint at the ministry of environment and forests for clearances.
This too, would be over in another two weeks, the secretary said. “Within the next two weeks, we should be able to complete the process of issue of notices to those who have violated the roll out obligations,” he said.