BackAssocham not to press for quashing of TTSL licences
Assocham made the demand in letters on 27 April and 15 May
Premium(Tata Teleservices has succeeded in persuading the Assocham to withdraw letters for cancellation of its licences. Mint )
New Delhi: Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) has succeeded in persuading the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) to withdraw letters it had written asking for the company’s telecom licences to be scrapped.
“We wish to inform you that based on new information that has been provided to us by our members, we believe that the letters were inadvertently sent on behalf of Assocham," lobby group president Rajkumar Dhoot wrote in a fresh communication to the department of telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
“Hence, we wish to withdraw these letters with immediate effect and totally disassociate Assocham from their contents."
Mint has reviewed a copy of the letter.
Assocham had asked Trai and DoT to add 19 telecom licences held by TTSL to the 122 cancelled by the Supreme Court in a 2 February order. Assocham made the demand in letters on 27 April and 15 May that were signed by the grouping’s director general D.S. Rawat.
“The remaining licences should be included within the scope of the recommendations as by doing so, not only will this be beneficial to the participants of the auction process as there will be more spectrum available, but this shall also be beneficial to the government as increased spectrum shall entail earning revenues from the auction of the spectrum to the tune of 18,000 crore or even more," said the 27 April letter. The point was reiterated in a 15 May letter as well.
TTSL had strongly reacted to the letters. In a 25 May statement, TTSL said it wrote to the industry body saying they “serve the interests of a handful of powerful members within the industry body."
“The TTSL letter further points out that industry bodies such as Assocham should not write letters without confirming facts, or on matters which are sub judice. Further, it is shocking that Assocham has written a letter seeking to harm the interests of one of its own member companies," TTSL said in the release. Dhoot and Rawat declined to comment on the letter. TTSL spokesperson declined to comment on the retraction.
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