Bad news for Elon Musk as Modi Government may impose spectrum tax on Starlink, Tesla boss may have to incur loss of Rs….

According to the new law, Starlink will have to pay about 3% of its earnings in India as spectrum use charge (SUC) to the government for using the spectrum. This move of the government will create problems for Starlink and Elon Musk.

The Government of India is planning to impose spectrum tax on Starlink. This tax was earlier levied on companies like Jio, Airtel, but later it was removed. If this tax is imposed on Starlink by the government, then people will have to pay more money to use Starlink’s service. Starlink is already struggling with the government’s rules which are related to internet shutdown and surveillance.

According to the news published in Times of India (TOI), Starlink will get telecom signals from the Government of India but as per new law, it will have to pay about 3% of its earnings in India as Spectrum Use Charge (SUC) to the government. The newspaper claimed, quoting sources, that ‘satellite companies will not get the spectrum in auction, but the government will give it to them directly, so they will have to pay spectrum usage charge (SUC) which has still not being decided.

Spectrum tax will be separate from license fee

If this materializes, apart from the 8% license fee that all telecom companies have to pay, satellite communication companies will also have to pay an additional fee for spectrum. This can be more than 3%, although discussions are still going on. Telecom regulator TRAI is currently finalizing the price of satellite spectrum, its tenure and other tax related matters. The source claimed that ‘Discussions within TRAI have concluded that it is necessary to impose spectrum use charge (SUC) on satellite communication companies, as they will be administratively allocated spectrum at a pre-determined price.

TRAI will soon give its recommendation

TRAI is going to give its recommendation on satellite communication spectrum allocation soon. After this, these will be considered by the Department of Telecom (DoT). After analysing the recommendations, DoT may seek more information on the matter with some specific questions. After DoT is satisfied, it will put this matter before the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), a group of ministries. After the approval of DCC, it will be presented before the Cabinet.