Exclude cell phones from IT norms: COAI

Cellular operators have asked the government to exclude cell phones from the income tax return criteria.

"Cellular phones should be excluded from the 1/6 criteria," Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said in its pre-budget memorandum.

"Further growth has to come from low-end and marginal users. If the service is retained in the 1/6 criteria, the government will be attaching a premium tag on the service, which may discourage the
prospective users," the memo said.

Basic and WLL service users are excluded from the 1/6 list.

"Cellular service is no longer an elitist service. It has become so affordable that it can be used by persons below taxable limits. To increase tele-density, mobile services are the easiest route," COAI said.

The association has also sought rationalisation of adjusted gross
revenue (AGR) definition, saying that would reduce the cost of burden in respect of licence fees and spectrum charges.

"The definition of AGR should be based solely on service-related revenue," it said. Currently, licence fees and spectrum charges are payable on the basis of the AGR of operators, and the present definition includes several revenue streams unrelated to service activities like interest and dividend incomes from investments, revenue from sale of handsets and sale of capital goods and sharing/leasing of infrastructure.