NEW DELHI: Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said, “COAI has always worked closely with the Government towards raising the level of telecom connectivity in the country and appreciates the Government’s rich initiatives and prudent steps undertaken in this regard. For the Budget 2024-25 though, our long-standing demands remain unaddressed, and we will continue to work with the Government.

The telecom sector maintains that the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) levy be abolished/suspended considering the huge unutilized corpus in the USO Fund to the tune of nearly Rs. 80,000 crores. Till the utilisation of this fund, no USOF levy should be charged from the operators. Further, the License Fee needs to be reduced from 3% to 0.5%-1%, to cover the administrative costs of the Government only, and also clarifying the definition of Gross Revenue (GR) to exclude revenue from activities not requiring a license.

The Government has also proposed to increase Basic Customs Duty from 10% to 15% on PCBA of certain specified telecom equipment. This will increase the cost of providing services as the telcos are continuously upgrading their networks with the advent of the new technology.
COAI has previously requested exemptions on customs duties for certain telecom equipment to alleviate the cost challenges associated with deploying this critical infrastructure. Over the past 5 to 6 years, the Government of India has gradually increased the customs duty on telecom equipment to 20%, posing a substantial financial burden and significantly impacting the rollout of 5G services in India. It is recommended that the customs duty be reduced to zero and then gradually increased depending on the creation of an ecosystem for manufacturing of telecom gear in India.

Further, until high-quality equipment is available domestically at competitive prices, COAI urges the government to reduce customs duties for 4G and 5G network products, as well as other related items, to NIL.”