Revenue collections of telecom companies fall further, as a result of which government loses income – says TRAI report.
As a result of the ongoing “tariff war”, triggered by Reliance Jio’s predatory pricing, the revenue collections of telecom companies have fallen further. According to the TRAI report, the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR), earned by the telecom companies has dropped over 10 per cent, i.e., to Rs.1,44,446 crore during 2018 from Rs.1,60,814 crore in 2017. AGR is the revenue collected by telecom companies from sale of telecom services. Spectrum Usage Charges and Licence Fee, payable to the government, are being calculated on the basis of AGR. Since the AGR of telecom companies has fallen, the Spectrum Usage Charges and Licence Fee, received by the government, has also fallen. Spectrum usage charges (SUC) has fallen by 17.74 per cent to Rs.4,186 crore in 2018, while licence fee collections has fallen by 10.2 per cent to Rs 11,641 crore.
[ Source : ET Telecom dated 26-09-2019
