HC raps BMC for levying charges for regularisation of cell towers

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday restrained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from taking any coercive steps against five telecom companies. 

The companies have not paid the corporation the premium amount demanded by the civic body for regularizing cell towers put by the companies on roof tops of private buildings.

A Division bench of Justice SA Bobde and Justice M R Bhatkar said, “Prima facie it appears to be illegal.”

The remark was made during the hearing of a bunch of petitions filed by the telecom operators – Viom Networks Ltd., Indus Towers Ltd., ATC Telecom Tower Corporation Pvt. Ltd., Loop Mobile (India) Ltd. and GTL Infrastructure Ltd.

According to the petition the civic body has adopted a new policy in August 2011 to levy charges on telecom operators seeking regularisation of cell towers constructed by them on roof-tops of private buildings.

The telecom operators moved the court challenging levying of the premium, contending it was contrary to provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, which prohibits levying any charge for construction of cell towers.

BMC counsel Anil Sakhare argued the state government had amended relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, and the amended section allows civic bodies to impose charges, fees etc. According to him, the new civic policy has been framed in accordance with the amended provision of the MRTP Act.

The judges questioned BMC’s authority to levy the charge. “Your authority of levying the charge is in serious dispute,” the court noted, adding, “We haven’t seen levying of charges by a (municipal) corporation on the basis of a circular not published in gazette.”

The petitioner companies are either mobile telecom operators or providing infrastructural facilities to various telecom operators.

GTL Infrastructure, the company is providing infrastructural facilities to telecom operators like Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Hutch, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices, Spice Communication and Reliance, has constructed several cell towers across the city.

GTL Infrastructure moved the court after BMC refused to accept their application, seeking regularisation of some cellular towers, and threatened demolition of the same.