HC cancel premium levy on mobile towers

In a relief to mobile phone service providers, the Bombay High Court set aside a Maharashtra government notification fixing the rates of permium to be recovered from service providers for permission to instal mobile towers and cabins on roof-tops. Now mobile companies will not have to pay anything for the towers and cabins.

Based on this notification of July 4, 2005, various municipal corporations in the state had issued notices to mobile service providers to shell out hefty yearly premiums "" Rs 1000 sq metre in the case of mobile cabins and Rs 10,000 per running metre for the mobile tower, yearly "" and also deposit Rs 50,000.Various mobile companies, including Airtel, Reliance, Tata Teleservices, BPL had challenged these notices.

Deciding on a total of 16 petitions filed on this issue, the division Bench of Justices R M S Khandeparkar and V M Kanade today held that 2005 notification, which had been issue under section 154 of Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, was illegal.

MRTP does not empower the government to issue such a notification, the judges held.