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Taxman blamed for drop in cellular business

The slump was from 25 per cent growth in 1997 to 1.8 per cent during January-March 1998.

The general perception is that such a dramatic plunge could only happen

T O D A Y

• Budget '98 • MTNL results • Wipro exports up • Taxman blamed

because of the Income-Tax Department's notice to all cell phone users, asking them to file returns.

Cell phone users began shying away from the service as they would have fallen under the 'two out of four' category, which makes it mandatory for them to file returns, explains Usha Martin Telekom Managing Director and Major Gen (Retd) Sharad Gupta. He is also the executive committee member of the Cellular Operators Association of India.

He wonders why such circulars were not being sent to subscribers of the state-owned Department of Telecommunications subscribers.

Usha Martin Telekom is one of the two cellular service providers in Calcutta and markets its service under the Command brand name. Gupta made his observations at a news conference convened to announce the launch of India's first pre-paid phone card based on 'advice of charge' technology.

Called 'Yes', the pre-paid card is available off the shelf at a total cost of Rs 2,000, inclusive of activation charge and stored value.

'Yes' customers can avail of all the benefits enjoyed by Command subscribers. They can also save on rentals, charges for value-added services and club membership fees. The 'Yes' card will be available from over 150 retail outlets in the city, it can be recharged from the recharge centres and refund can be obtained for the stored value if the card is not fully utilised during its one-month validity period.

Other benefits of the 'Yes' card include its compatibility with a range of handsets and total anonymity of the user. No proof of address or documentation is required before a 'Yes' card is bought since, being pre-paid, no detailed billing record is required to be maintained.

Dwelling on other major problems faced by the industry, Gupta said the average revenue per subscriber had been a mere third of what had been expected.

- Compiled from the Indian media

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