MTNL may move court on ADC

With the Telecom Dispute Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) today turning down a plea for stay on the implementation of the new Access Deficit Charge (ADC) regime from February 1, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd said it was likely to approach the high court over the decision and was exploring the possibility of raising tariffs.

MTNL executives told Business Standard that its finance department was working on raising tariffs in "some areas" and an announcement would be made soon.

"We are looking at two options. We can approach the high court immediately or wait for the February 24 (TDSAT) hearing. If the decision from either of these is favourable to us, the tariff hike would be reversed," an MTNL executive said.

The state-owned company provides telephone and internet services in Delhi and Mumbai. The company had claimed that the new ADC regime would create a loss of Rs 550 crore.

Hearing MTNL's petition, the TDSAT asked Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to file its reply within two weeks and fixed February 24 for the next hearing. TDSAT also said it had the jurisdiction to adjudicate on Trai regulations.

On January 21, MTNL had moved the tribunal challenging the Trai's decision to slash ADC rates and also grant ADC on all incoming calls to BSNL alone.

The tribunal had then directed Trai to file a reply to MTNL's petition by January 26, in addition to asking the Unified Telecom Operators Association to file an application to intervene in the case.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court today heard the petition filed by Trai challenging TDSAT's order to go ahead with the adjudication of regulations on the new ADC regime. The court deferred the hearing to next week after it was informed that TDSAT had passed an interim order on MTNL's plea.

The regulator had approached the court against TDSAT hearing MTNL's petition. "The tribunal has assumed a jurisdiction not vested in it by law," senior advocate G L Sanghi, appearing for Trai, told the court.