Speed up broadband roll-out

War over USO fund should be resolved transparently

It has been almost two decades since the Union government’s telecom policy set aside 5 per cent of its receipts from the sector towards the Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund. The USO fund now totals in excess of Rs 1 trillion. Yet the Comptroller and Auditor General has repeatedly pulled up the government for how it is managing the fund. In the past, the statutory obligation to pass dues on to the USO fund has not always been observed in a timely manner; as a consequence, the money has remained in the Consolidated Fund of India while the Union Budget’s