In Brief
BSNL sought to levy infrastructure charges for telecommunications operators retrospectively from 1st April 2009 under a circular issued in June 2012. The Tribunal held that while BSNL could revise charges, the circular could apply only prospectively from 1st April 2013. The Supreme Court upheld that administrative circulars cannot operate retrospectively without legislative authority, but held that BSNL could levy charges prospectively from 2013 using a notional fixation mechanism with 10% annual increases computed from the new rates, without requiring payment for the prior period.
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