Idea Cellular has been asked to pay a penalty of Rs 600 crore for violations of licence conditions in its merger deal with Spice Communication. The company confirmed that it received a letter from Department of Telecom (DoT) dated November 29, imposing the penalty. In its statement, company further added that the DoT said the merger of the operational Spice licences of Punjab and Karnataka can be taken on record if Idea pays up the penalty of Rs 600 crore within next 15 days.
The company is preparing to take necessary steps to challenge the DoT letter at appropriate forum, it said. “Idea Cellular limited has received a communication from DoT, Ministry of Communications & IT, on imposition of financial penalty of sum of Rs 600 crore for alleged violation of terms and conditions of CMTS /UAS licences while acquiring erstwhile Spice Communications limited,” the statement said.