Internet surfing might become costlier by up to 30 per cent as the Department of Telecom (DoT) today issued corrigendum to the new telecom licences agreement bringing revenue from these services under its cess net.
As per the initial version of the Unified Licence on August 2, DoT had exempted Internet services revenue from adjusted gross revenue (AGR) - part of telecom company's earnings on which annual licence fee is levied.
It had said that AGR will be calculated after deducting revenue from pure Internet (access and content) services, sales tax paid to the government and roaming revenue paid to other operators from the total revenue earned by telecom service providers.
Under the new licences telecom operators, including Internet services providers, will have to pay uniform licence fee of 8 per cent annually on AGR.
The Internet Service Providers Association of India has warned the step would lead to hike in consumer rates by up to 30 per cent.
As per the initial version of the Unified Licence on August 2, DoT had exempted Internet services revenue from adjusted gross revenue (AGR) - part of telecom company's earnings on which annual licence fee is levied.
It had said that AGR will be calculated after deducting revenue from pure Internet (access and content) services, sales tax paid to the government and roaming revenue paid to other operators from the total revenue earned by telecom service providers.
Under the new licences telecom operators, including Internet services providers, will have to pay uniform licence fee of 8 per cent annually on AGR.
The Internet Service Providers Association of India has warned the step would lead to hike in consumer rates by up to 30 per cent.