Allocation ‘arbitrary, unfair and inequitable'

Highlighting gross irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has said that “the entire process lacked transparency and was undertaken in an arbitrary, unfair and inequitable manner” causing a “presumptive loss” of over Rs.1.76-lakh crore to the exchequer. The CAG's Performance Audit Report titled “Issue of Licences and Allocation of 2G Spectrum by the Department of Telecommunications ” was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. The DoT did not follow its own guidelines on eligibility conditions, arbitrarily changed the cut-off date for receipt of applications post-facto and altered the conditions of the FCFS procedure at crucial junctures without valid and cogent reasons, “thereby giving unfair advantage to certain companies over others,” the report said. The CAG report blames Mr. Raja for violating the FCFS policy, but says the Prime Minister, the Minister for Law and Justice, the Finance Secretary, the DoT Secretary and the Member in the Ministry were “not in favour of hasty allotment of licences without revision of spectrum prices.” In a severe indictment of the DoT, the CAG report said it failed to do the requisite due diligence in the examination of the applications submitted for the licences, leading to the grant of 85 out of 122 licences to “ineligible applicants.” These companies, created barely months ago, deliberately suppressed facts, disclosed incomplete information, submitted fictitious documents and used fraudulent means for getting licences and, thereby, access to spectrum, it pointed out.