Declining revenue of telecom operators may hit the government's revenue collection from telecom services in the form of licence fee and spectrum usage charges, Union Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said on Wednesday.
The telecom sector witnessed a sharp decline in revenue in the second half of 2016-17, the minister said in the Lok Sabha, adding that the government held a meeting with telecom firms and major banks to discuss about the financial stress in the sector.
"The revenue decline in the second half of the financial year 2016-17 was mainly concentrated in the last quarter of the year. The declining tariff in the sector led to an adverse impact on revenue. The License Fee has declined in Q3 (October-December) and Q4 (January-March) of financial year 2016-17," Sinha said.
As per the data shared by Sinha, at the end of the first quarter, the government collected licence fee of Rs 3,975.66 crore, Rs 3,584.04 in the second, Rs 3,452.13 crore in the third and Rs 2,663.29 crore in the last quarter.
Operators pay 8% of their telecom services revenue as licence fee to the government.
The minister also said that the government had constituted an inter-ministerial group (IMG) to discuss the financial stress in the sector and other issues. The panel has to suggest policy reforms and strategic interventions for the telecom sector, he said.
