Bharti, Tata told to cancel SingTel contracts

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) could ask Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications to cancel contracts signed with Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), after the regulator alleged the latter was offering international long-distance services without a license.

The Economic Times reported the DoT maintains that Bharti and Tata entered into alleged illegal agreement[s] with SingTel after appointing the Far Eastern firm to manage and bill their customer bases, according to TeleGeography CommsUpdate.

In a response to the regulator, however, SingTel argued that it does not provide any telecom services in India nor has [it] acted in India as an independent telecom service provider at any point of time.

The development follows reports earlier this month that foreign operators in India, including AT&T, British Telecom (BT), Equant and Verizon may face combined penalties of up to INR1.1 billion, after similar claims that they had operated illegally by offering services in the country before receiving necessary licenses.

The Ministry of Communications of Information Technology is reviewing the situation.