By IANS,
New Delhi : Facing allegations of irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum to telecom firms, the government Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that the rates were low as it was concerned more about consumers’ benefits than earning revenue.
“This is not an issue of revenue. This is the issue of consumers’ benefit. It is possible only when there is maximum competition and everybody is allowed to enter in the market,” Attorney General Goolam E. Vahanvati told a division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan.
“Benefit cannot go to the consumer if the spectrum is allocated for thousands of crores (of rupees),” he added.
Justifying the policy adopted by the government, he said if the spectrum was auctioned at a higher rate, only existing big players would have participated in the bidding and the benefit could not have gone the consumer.
However, petitioner Arvind Gupta, who has approached the court against the allegedly shady practice of the government in allocating spectrum, submitted before the bench that as soon as the spectrum was allotted to a particular company, it changed hands the same evening and the company sold it to a foreign firm at a much higher rate.
The bench asked the petitioner to file a detailed synopsis and chronology of the matter and deferred the case for July 22.
In May, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) also defended the government’s move to allot spectrum with licence to new entrants on a first-come, first-served basis, saying this would ensure a level-playing field.