The Congress on Thursday accused the Modi Government of covering up a telecom scam worth Rs45,000 crore in a bid to save top telecommunication companies. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that despite the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) highlighting that six top telecom companies under-reported their revenues amounting to Rs45,000 crore for four years, the Modi Government did nothing to recover that amount or penalise these companies. He also alleged that the scam aims to help Modi Government’s industrialist friends.
“A massive telecom scam of Rs45,000 crore is being buried under the carpet by Modi Government which talks of transparency. PM Modi who used to say ‘na khaoonga, na khaane doonga’ has proved to be another false promise. The Government is surreptitiously taking steps to protect the interests of six leading telecom companies and by helping them avoid payment of charges,” said Surjewala.
The telecom companies named by Surjewala are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Idea, Tata and Aircel. He claimed that this is a clear-cut case of loss to the public exchequer verified by the CAG with the sole aim of helping friendly ‘crony capitalists’.
Congress claimed the CAG initiated an audit of the six telecom companies for four years from 2006-07 to 2009-10 at the instructions of the Congress-led UPA Government. It specifically looked at underreporting of income and non-uniform method of accounting adopted by various telecom companies and consequent lack of obligation to pay outstanding licence fee and Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC). In its report submitted this year, the CAG found an alleged understatement/underreporting of income by the six companies of Rs46,045.75 crore in the four years.
“Resultantly, the CAG found that there was an amount of Rs12,488.93 crore, which remains un-recovered by the Government. This does not include penalty, if any, and other relevant taxes,” Surjewala said. He added that although there has been considerable increase in business, consumer base and income, even if loss of exchequer is calculated on the same formula for the years 2010-11 to 2015-16, this figure would be Rs45,000 crore plus.
“Instead of immediately acting on these shocking and startling revelations reflecting serious loss to public exchequer, Modi Government has opted for an alternative re-evaluation of these figures by Telecom Ministry through Chartered Accountants who are empanelled with them”, Surjewala accused.
“Firstly this is a clear methodology of Modi Government to inordinately delay the process of recovery for years together, if not, writing it off entirely. Secondly, it reflects the apparent mal-intent of the Government to dilute or diminish the figures put forth by the CAG”, the Spokesperson said.
Surjewala also tossed some questions to the Government saying whether such an act by it amounts to be a “grotesque breach of public trust” by the BJP-led Government, which, in the past, had made a notional loss pegged by CAG in 2G spectrum allocation case a major issue of corruption. He asked about Government plans to recover ‘actual losses’ and whether Government is acting as a “willful collaborator” with the select corporate entities in artfully dodging recovery of massive sums of money. “Is it a new way to minimise fiscal deficit”IJ he said sarcastically.
He asked, “Why is Modi Government maintaining a conspicuous silence on the matter becoming virtually comatose despite the mammoth size of financial sums involvedIJ”.