Vodafone India CEO’s comments over Ravi Shankar Prasad raises concern

Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood’s recent comments over the call drops seems to have snubbed the government officials. Sood, off lately had said that "The (telecom) minister's and secretary's comments don't count as the view of the entire government".

The matter has now been raised with the company (Vodafone) says an Economic Times report.

A senior DoT official told ET, "Senior officials in the government have taken a note of his (Sood's) comments and we have taken up the matter with them (Vodafone). It was for the first time a senior executive has challenged the government's authority."

The official further said that Vodafone had said the comment "wasn't meant like it sounded". The Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, however, denied making any comments on the matter.

A senior DoT official has also "had a stern word" with officials at the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the GSM industry lobby group, on the matter. Rajan Mathews, the director general of COAI, didn't respond to any queries and also declined to make any comment.
The response the telecom operator gave on Sunday didn’t addressed any specific queries by ET. In fact, it emerged as a damage control as it paid tribute to the minster and the secretary.

"We take this opportunity to once again thank the Hon'ble Union Minister for Communication & IT, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and the Secretary DoT, Shri Rakesh Garg for working together with the industry and other stakeholders in actualising the PM's dream of Digital India," the company said in its email to ET.

"Both the Hon'ble Minister and the Secretary DoT, are cognizant of the macro and micro issues facing the telecom industry, the resolution of which will go a long way in realising the potential of mobile technology to address some of India's most pressing challenges in the areas of education, health, inclusion, governance, equality and access," the mail further said.

Sunil Sood, who took over as the telco’s India CEO in April questioned the authority of Telecom Minister and Telecom Secretary while reacting to a comment that the duo had asked for penalties to be imposed on telcos for bad call quality.

As per the officials, Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao had sought an appointment to meet the minister in October and the Sood’s comments would be taken up then.

In a statement, Vodafone said, "The DoT has taken out clear guidelines for installation of mobile towers. Unfortunately, the state and local governments are not implementing it uniformly."

"The Hon'ble Minister has led by example to dispel the myths around EMF by addressing the issue in the public domain. He has also prudently taken it up with the urban development ministry to allow for cell sites to be installed on government buildings. Similarly, the Secretary DoT too personally intervened to support the telecom industry when cell sites were being sealed or disabled in NCR."

Telecom operators and the government have increasingly found themselves at odds over call drops. While top telcos have publicly said that they were not to be blamed or criticized for not helping the government in installation of more towers, the telecom department, on the other hand, has chided the companies for not looking to actively resolve the issue. The remark by Sood could also affect the apparent detente in Vodafone-government relations.

British parent Vodafone Group Plc is involved in international arbitration with the government to resolve its eight year-old, Rs 20,000 crore tax disputes. Ties between the two parties had seemingly improved, with reconciliatory noises being made by both sides.

Vodafone has in the past praised the country's political leadership and spoken about the government's intent to resolve the tax issue. The government had, in January, decided against appealing a court order that went in favor of Vodafone to avoid "fruitless litigation" and allay investor concerns on tax issues. The dispute pertained to a Rs 3,200 crore tax demand in a transfer-pricing case.