Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2012 Supreme(Online)(TDSAT) 72

TELECOM DISPUTES SETTLEMENT AND APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
S.B. Sinha, CJ, P.K. Rastogi, J
Reliance Communications Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. – Respondent
Petition No.324 of 2010 | Petition No.86 of 2011 | Petition No.87 of 2011 | Petition No.92 of 2011 | Petition No.96 of 2011 | Petition No.141 of 2011 | Petition No.156 of 2011 | Petition No.157 of 2011 | Petition No.158 of 2011 | Petition No.159 of 2011 | Petition No.160 of 2011 | Petition No.161 of 2011 | Petition No.162 of 2011 | Petition No.163 of 2011 | Petition No.164 of 2011 | Petition No.165 of 2011 | Petition No.166 of 2011 | Petition No.167 of 2011 | Petition No.168 of 2011 | Petition No.169 of 2011

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners:Mr.Ramji Srinivasan, Senior Advocate, Ms.Manali Singhal, Advocate, Mr.Santosh Sachin, Advocate, Mr.Sharath Sampath, Advocate, Mr.Manikya Khanna, Advocate, Ms.Shikha Sarin, Advocate, Ms.Swati Sinha, Advocate
For the Respondents:Mr.Vikas Singh, Senior Advocate, Ms.Maneesha Dhir, Advocate, Mr.K.P.S.Kohli, Advocate, Ms.Amrita Narayan, Advocate

The tribunal upheld that Interconnect Usage Charges include Access Deficit Charges, while confirming prior rulings on time-barred claims and regulations of billing procedures between telecom operators.

Headnote:(A) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 - Section 11(1)(b) - Interconnection Usage Charges Regulations - Access Deficit Charges - Legality and validity of demands raised by the respondent for ADC were questioned by the petitioner claiming them to be illegal and unjust; Court upheld the interpretation of Clause 6.4.6 as genuine pre-estimated damages and applicable to the demands raised, confirming that IUC includes ADC for the respective periods of service provided. (Paras 6, 22, 125, 162)

(B) Limitation Act, 1963 - Article 1 - The Court ruled that the claims pertaining to the first period (P-1) were barred by time, while those for (P-2) were governed by previous judgments and thus not subject to relief, allowing for reconciliations for ongoing calculations regarding P-3 period. (Paras 1, 162, 164)

Facts of the case:
The petitioner, Reliance Communications, contested multiple bills raised by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) related to Access Deficit Charges (ADC) over several service periods, alleging improper billing practices under the Interconnect Usage Charges Regulations. (Paras 1, 3, 4)

Findings of Court:
Court confirmed the validity of charges for P-2 period but ruled P-1 claims were time-barred, emphasizing the limitation statutes while permitting reconciliations for P-3 demands. (Paras 162, 163)

Issues: Key issues revolved around the legality of ADC demands, representation around mutual accounts, timeline of claims, and the enforceability of interest provisions under the agreement. (Paras 2, 6)

Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized that a party to a contract retains the right to enforce claims unless explicitly barred by previous judgments, affirming that regulatory interpretations govern financial obligations and contractual proceedings. (Paras 162, 164)

Result: Petition allowed in part; disconnection notices in P-1 period not upheld; reconciliation of accounts for P-3 period mandated.

Table of Content
1. petitioner's claims on billing disputes. (Para 1 , 2 , 3)
2. overview of billing periods and claims. (Para 4 , 5 , 6)
3. agreements and license issues. (Para 7 , 8 , 9)
4. regulatory framework overview. (Para 10 , 11 , 12)
5. previous tribunal decisions on similar cases. (Para 13 , 14 , 15 , 16)
6. argument on adc and iuc being distinct. (Para 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42)
7. claim for refunds and implications of previous orders. (Para 160 , 161 , 162)
8. conclusion on the petitions and orders. (Para 163 , 164)

JUDGMENT

Background Facts

Petitioner, a UAS Licensee on and from 13.11.2004, has filed this petition inter-alia questioning the legality and/or validity of some bills raised by the Respondent, as being illegal, unjust and unfair as also for a direction that Clause 7.5 of the Addenda VI appended to the Interconnect Agreement be declared ultra-vires, illegal, unconstitutional and invalid.

2. Petitioner has also prayed for a declaration that the Respondent- BSNL cannot use any of the provisions of the Interconnect Agreement for the purpose of enforcing demands of ADC, being illegal and invalid.

3. The parties in Petition No.324 of 2010, have placed a large number of documents which will be treated as the lead case.

In the said petition, demands dated 20.12.2006, 21.05.2008, 20.08.2008, 11.06.2010, 30.06.2010 and 07.09.2010 are in question.

4. We may for the purpose of appreciating the contention of the parties notice one of the said bills being dated 20.12.2006.

It was raised for the period 14.11.2004 to 28.02.2006 for a sum of Rs.9,87,25,798/-.

A bill towards interest on the amount said to be outstanding was also raised on or about 20.08.2008 for the period 01.07.2005 to February 2006, claiming a sum of Rs.4,83,26,538/-.

Similar bills were raised during the intervening periods.

5. Before, however, proceeding with the matter further, it may be placed on record that bills for three different periods i.e. (a) 01.02.2004 and 13.11.2004 (hereinafter referred to as P-1), (b) 14.11.2004 and 26.08.2005 (hereinafter referred to as P-2); and (c) 27.08.2005 to 28.02.2006 (herein after referred to as P-3) are involved in these petitions.

6. During the aforementioned periods, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in exercise of its power conferred upon it under Section 11 (1) (b) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (the Act), inter alia, made three Interconnect Usage Charge Regulations i.e. (a) on 29.10.2003 for the period 01.02.2004 and 31.01.2005; (b) on 06.01.2005 for the period 01.02.2005 and 28.08.2006; and (c) on 23.02.2006 for the period 01.03.2006 and 31.03.2007.

7. We may notice the factual matrix involved in these matters in respect of the Gujarat Circle.

Petitioner entered into an agreement with DoT on or about 18.03.1997 in respect thereof.

Basic Interconnect Agreement was signed between DoT and the Petitioner for the said Circle on 18.03.2007.

8. Licences were issued to the Petitioner under Section 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 to establish, install, maintain and operate the Basic Telephone Service in several service areas of the country on or about 20.07.2001.

9. Another Basic Interconnect Agreement was signed between the parties hereto on or about 21.05.2002.

Petitioner migrated from Basic Service Licence to Unified Access Service Licence with effect from 14.11.2003.

10. On or about 28.01.2004, a circular letter was issued purported to be for implementation of the IUC Regulations dated 29.10.2003, paragraph 11 whereof reads as under :-

―11. The CLI based barring facility shall be activated at the PoIs wherever technically feasible to ensure that the traffic handed over to BSNL is in the appropriate trunk groups only. Wherever it is technically not feasible to activate CLI based barring, periodic monitoring of the incoming trunk groups shall be done by BSNL to ensure this objective. The calls received without CLI by BSNL from various operators shall be charged at the highest sl

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