Jio Gets Rs 18 Lakh Discount On Fibre Cables Laying Without Permission

In violation to the rules and regulations, Municipal Committee (MC) Pahalgam has allowed the telecom giant Jio to lay optic fibre cables without any permission, while also granting it a huge discount on account of fees that it has to pay.

Excelsior has learned that the Executive Officer MC Pahalgam has allowed Jio to lay the cables in Pahalgam without even getting proper permission from other departments.

The Executive Officer didn’t even stop there. The concerned officer has charged the telecom company under discounted rates of Rs 100 per metre. There are a total of 4600 metres for which the company is going to lay the cables. The total amount, under the discounted rates that the company has to pay, is Rs 4.6 lakh which otherwise could have been whooping Rs 23 lakh rupees.

The officer, in this regard, has issued an order as well on July 8. The order, however, has been immediately revoked by the President MC Pahalgam. In spite of charging them Rs 500 per metre, which is as per the rules furnished in 2018, the company has been given a huge discount.

“You are requested to stop the work till the company deposit Rs 500 per meter to this committee against proper receipt before the company will start work. This is in addition to the charge of damage caused to roads, lanes, drains for which permission is to be obtained from concerned departments separately,” reads a letter issued by the President MC Pahalgam to its Executive today.

Pertinently, Govt of India, Ministry of Urban Development has issued an advisory regarding revised rates vide No.D.O.NO: N-11025/93/2014-LSG. April 13, 2018, advising Urban Local Bodies, Kashmir to revise the rates of laying fibre cables in municipal limits.

An official said that they will have to get the proper permission first and only after that an order can be issued. “They have to get the permission from other departments first; and they have to be charged as per rules which make it Rs 500 per metre; the order issued in this regard has been revoked,” he said.

“They damage roads by resorting to digging, we will be needing money to make sure that the repairs are done and if we have charged Govt-run BSNL Rs 500 per metre, what makes Jio entitled to such a discount,” he added.―Daily Excelsior