Bharti Airtel faces fines of up to 1.26 billion rupees (€19.9 million) for misreporting revenues and failure to comply with regulatory requirements.
India’s Department of Telecom plans to demand the operator pay its dues on underreported revenue over two financial years, with sources estimating the fine could hit as much as a billion rupees, the Business Standard reports.
Bharti denies any wrongdoing, stating the discrepancy is due to a difference in interpretation of the revenue figures used to calculate taxes. Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices could also be fined, after sweeping DoT audits on all carriers.
However, Bharti also faces action for failing to properly verify prepaid subscribers in the Jammu and Kashmir regions, the Economic Times reports. The operator has appealed for a reduction to a 260 million rupee fine for not properly implementing the security checks, which were ordered in 2009 in the wake of a terrorist attack.