JUDGMENT:

KAPADIA, J. - The controversy in these civil appeals is: whether appellant is liable to pay Access Deficit Charges ("ADC") to BSNL for the period commencing from 14.11.2004 to 26.8.2005 in respect of its service provided under its brand name "WALKY".

Introduction:

2. ADC is a levy imposed by TRAI (Regulator) on the operators (service providers) to support roll out of telephones in rural areas. Since BSNL owns 99% of the rural phones, ADC constitutes a levy for the appellant and a subsidy for BSNL. The said ADC has two parts: (i) the component of the payment to be made by the domestic service provider, and (ii) the component of the payment to be made by international long-distance service providers. The ADC regime was introduced in 2004.

3. In March, 1997, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ("TRAI") Act stood enacted. The Government introduced New Telecommunication Policy ("NTP") in 1999 and proceeded to implement the said policy. By TRAI (Amendment) Act, 2000 a key change came to be effected as a result of NTP, 1999. The said amendment segregated the Regulatory and Dispute Settlement norms of the original TRAI. Under the new regime, all disputes involving consumer and se