In less than a week, the Delhi high court on Wednesday, in its second interim order, restrained the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from sealing the illegal mobile towers providing service in the city till next Monday.
Justice Kailash Gambhir asked the civic agency to explain the reasons on what grounds the licence fee was hiked and whether any proposal was passed in the MCD House on the issue.
The new revised guidelines issued by the MCD stated that the amount to be paid by a telecom operator to the civic agency for installing a mobile tower has been increased from the current Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of the cellular operators association of India (COAI), argued before the court that “hike by the MCD is totally arbitrary. The MCD did not have any power to seal the towers and it is an illegal move”.
Mr Singhvi told the court that earlier the towers’ licence fee was Rs 1 lakh for 20 years which has now been increased to Rs 5 lakhs for a period of 5 years. When the MCD increased the fees, did it make any arrangement to increase the facilities attached to the towers.