MTNL moves TDSAT against ADC move

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) today challenged the new regime of access deficit charge (ADC) announced by Trai, which could result in a loss of over Rs 400 crore annually to the PSU.

The new regime, which comes into effect from February 1, has denied payment of ADC to MTNL it has been getting for the last two years.

The case comes up for hearing on January 24 before the Telecom Dispute Settlement appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), sources said.

Earlier, reacting to the Trai order, MTNL CMD R S P Sinha had said:  "ADC is available to bsnl - the same principle should be applied to us.

"ADC was available to MTNL since the last two years, and Trai was convinced about this. On what basis are we (MTNL) now been denied of this compensation?."

Fixed operators like MTNL used to receive ADC on incoming long distance calls terminating on their network. In the new regime, they would not receive the levy.