Telecom Operators Want Lesser Taxes and Exemptions from Government

India’s telecom industry wants to pay lesser taxes and need exemption on paying custom duties to the government. The license fee which telcos in India have to pay is way too high than what operators in other parts of the world need to. That is why, the industry has sought for a reduction in spectrum usage charges (SUC), spectrum acquisition charges, licence fee, removal of GST (goods and services tax) from certain areas, and exemption on paying custom duty from the government in the upcoming budget — more details on the story ahead.

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Government Needs to Acknowledge the Upcoming Expenses

The Indian government earns a hefty sum of revenue from the telecom industry. In figures, the amount that the government gets from the industry is Rs 58,000 crore annually. It is worth noting that the sector has already invested up to Rs 11.24 lakh crore until now to provide telecom services.

As per an ET Telecom report, according to the director-general of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), SP Kochhar, the government needs to acknowledge the kind of expenses that the industry is going to face in the coming time. With the need to expand 4G across the country, operators are also looking to introduce 5G for which a dire need of fiberisation would need to fulfilled.

All this would involve a mountain of costs, and if the telcos are not offered relief in some way, the industry might crumble. Kocchar further said that the license fee should be brought down from 3% to 1% as early as possible for DoT/government to cover admin costs.