CAG Seeks Recovery of Rs 8.49 Crore in Damages and Penalties from Airtel

CAG Report Exposes Delayed Telecom Projects in Assam and Sikkim

A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), a rural telecom development fund under the Department of Telecom, is owed a significant sum of liquidated damages and non-performance penalty by Bharti Airtel. The report, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, highlights the delayed mobile coverage projects in Assam and Sikkim, which have been pending for several years.

In December 2017, DBN entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel to provide mobile coverage in Assam and Sikkim, with all sites to be commissioned by June 2019. However, despite multiple extensions of the deadline, several sites remain uninstalled. According to the report, only 431 out of 756 approved sites were commissioned by April 2021. The DBN, formerly known as the Universal Services Obligation Fund, revised the target to 562 sites, but 124 sites still remained uncommissioned as of April 2025, attracting a liquidated damages and non-performance penalty of Rs 19.47 crore.

The report highlights the DBN's failure to recover the outstanding penalties from Bharti Airtel. Out of the total penalty of Rs 19.47 crore, the DBN has managed to recover only Rs 10.98 crore, leaving an outstanding amount of Rs 8.49 crore, even four years after the expiry of the roll-out period. This has led the CAG to comment on the weak contract enforcement, indicating that the prolonged delays and pending recoveries have resulted in a significant financial loss to the DBN.

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The CAG's report emphasizes the need for DBN to expedite the commissioning of pending sites and ensure the recovery of outstanding liquidated damages and non-performance penalty from Bharti Airtel Ltd.