Panel pulls up govt for poor use of rural telephony funds

The standing committee on information technology has pulled up the government for poor disbursement of Universal Service Obligation (USO) funds. Telecom companies pay 5 per cent of their revenue to the fund which is used to promote rural telephony.

It pointed out that of the total Rs 10,787.85 crore collected as USO levy till March 31, only Rs 3,581 crore had been allotted and disbursed.

The standing committee has recommended that the government release the remaining Rs 7,206 crore to meet its obligations.

The committee argues that "the very purpose of creating a USO fund is defeated when the amount needed for providing basic telephone facilities in rural and remote areas is not provided".

The committee has taken cognisance of the department of telecommunication's (DoT) view that cellular services could be used to boost telecommunications growth in rural areas.

However, as the USO definition includes the word "basic", it is not possible to provide support for cellular services through the fund. The DoT has introduced an amendment to the Telegraph Act to delete the word "basic".

But the committee has opposed the plea by the DoT that the inclusion of the word basic has led to a situation in which it cannot provide subsidy support to cellular services.

They have pointed out that the proposal to delete the word will give an impression that the government is trying to "water down the responsibilities or promote a certain type of service".

The government said including cellular services in the present definition of USO may lead to litigation as basic and cellular services are two distinct services. The definition also restricts providing subsidy support for cellular services.