US chipmaker Qualcomm on Tuesday offered to pay Rs 410 crore dues of its Indian partner Tulip Telecom on the condition that the Government will allot the licence and spectrum for wireless broadband services.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) asked the company to submit its proposal to the Department of Telecom. The DoT will have to respond by Friday, the next date of hearing.
Earlier, the DoT had rejected Qualcomm's offer to secure the previous Rs 146 crore dues of Tulip through bank guarantees. The counsel appearing for Qualcomm informed the tribunal that the company had no option except to pay the dues of Tulip to get the broadband spectrum.
Qualcomm also said that DoT had assured them that licence would be issued to them within 48 hours if the dues are cleared. Tulip owns 13 per cent stake in the broadband venture set up by Qualcomm after it won spectrum in the auctions held in 2010. In December, the DoT had issued a show-cause notice to Tulip claiming dues of Rs 146 crore for 2009-10 and 2010-11. In February, another demand notice was sent for the previous years starting from 2005-06.
While Tulip has challenged this amount, Qualcomm has agreed to pay off so that DoT can issue its licence without further delay. According to internal DoT documents, Tulip Telecom had already paid dues up to 2008. In December 2008, the DoT had sent a notice for Rs 481 for the year 2005-06. This was paid by Tulip. Then in July 2009 it sent a notice for Rs 192 crore for the period 2006-08.
Tulip contested this amount on grounds that the DoT had included its income from manufacturing business while calculating the licence fee payable. In a letter dated August 24, 2009, the Department agreed to bring down the dues to Rs 2.42 crore. Tulip finally paid up on October 15, 2009.
But now, the Department has sent a fresh notice claiming dues for the entire period starting from 2005 to 2009 based on its internal audit department's recommendations.