The Delhi high court has stayed a INR 3.5 billion penalty imposed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on mobile carrier Bharti airtel for offering 3G services in areas where it does not have spectrum, until the next hearing on 8 May, reports Live Mint. The court has allowed Airtel to continue offering the services but has ordered it to keep all its revenue from the contentious services in a separate bank account. On 15 March, Airtel approached the court, seeking a stay on a notice from the DoT asking the company to stop the services in the seven service areas where it has 3G roaming agreements and imposing a fine of INR 500 million per circle. Airtel will also have to sign an affidavit saying that the government can cash its bank guarantee if the government's stance on the issue is found correct. The affected circles include Haryana, Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh East, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Vodafone and Idea are likely to get similar notices soon for entering into 3G roaming pacts.
