Hit hard by the rising number of illegal telecom exchanges and unauthenticated mobile customer base, Department of Telecom is considering amending the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 to include stringent penalties of up to Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) for both the conduit and the service provider and even cancellation of the licence.
Telecom Commission recently held a meeting in this regard and sought views of other members and of the chief executives of two telecom PSUs -- BSNL and MTNL, sources said, adding that the commission was of the view that penalty should be increased for such activities ranging betwen Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) to Rs 5 crore.
The meeeting was chaired by Nripendra Misra, Chairman of Telecom Commission.
The current penalty is Rs 50-Rs 1,000 as per the Act of 1885 on various crimes.
After Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran's approval the departmental note, detailing amendments in the Telegraph Act, will be sent to the law ministry for further examination and approval, sources said adding after this it will be circulated as a Cabinet note among the ministries.
They, however, said that it may take some time to table the Bill in Parliament.
The move to set stringent penalty was triggered by the rising number of illegal telecom networks and large number of unauthenticated mobile subscriber base, both causing breach of national security and causing revenue loss to the government.
Reliance Infocomm paid Rs 150 crore penalty for routing international calls as local ones to DoT after it lost the case in TDSAT.