Andhra & Maharashtra Telecom Depts Fine Airtel For Flouting Norms

Telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel has been slapped with penalties to the tune of nearly INR 8 Lakh by the telecom departments of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

In an exchange filing on Thursday (February 20), Bharti Airtel said that Andhra Pradesh telecom department has imposed a fine of INR 6.59 Lakh on it for alleged violation of subscriber verification norms. 

The company also said that Maharashtra authorities have slapped a penalty of INR 1.37 Lakh for alleged violation of electromagnetic field (EMF) self-certification norms. 

“Alleged violation of terms and conditions with respect to subscriber verification norms under the License Agreement, pursuant to Sample CAF Audit conducted by DoT for December 2024,” read the filing while elaborating the reason behind the penalty from the Andhra Pradesh telecom department.

The company, however, added that the extent of the “maximum financial impact” of the two fines is limited to the penalty levied. Airtel received the penalty notices on Wednesday. 

The development comes days after the company announced that its promoter-group entity Indian Continent Investment Limited (ICIL) sold a 0.84% stake, or 5.11 Cr shares, in Bharti Airtel via a market transaction valued at INR 8,485.11 Cr. 

“This transaction follows Bharti Telecom’s recent acquisition of an additional ~1.2% stake (~7.31 Cr. shares) in Airtel from ICIL in November 2024. With this, Bharti Telecom now holds ~40.47% of Airtel, reinforcing its previously stated intent of strengthening its position as the principal vehicle to hold controlling stake in Airtel,” the company then said in an exchange filing. 

Notably, Airtel, along with Vodafone Idea, last month signed a share purchase agreement to transfer their entire stake in joint venture Firefly Networks to iBus Network and Infrastructure.

Meanwhile, for the third quarter (Q3) of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), Airtel reported a net profit of INR 14,781 Cr, a 505% increase from INR 2,442 Cr in the year ago period. The company’s revenue also jumped 19% to INR 45,129 Cr in the fiscal under review from INR 37,900 Cr in Q3 FY24.  

The telco’s average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at INR 245 during the quarter as against INR 208 in Q3 FY24.

Last month, the company also partnered Bajaj Finance to offer financial services digitally to their customers.

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