New Delhi, April 2 The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that Digital Bharat Nidhi, a rural telecom development fund under the Department of Telecom, should recover liquidated damages and non-performance penalty of Rs 8.49 crore from Bharti Airtel, which has been pending for the last four years.
The report, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, observed that Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel in December 2017 to provide mobile coverage in Assam and Sikkim, with all sites to be commissioned by June 2019, but there are several sites yet to be installed even after multiple extensions of the deadline.
"DBN needs to expedite the commissioning of pending sites and ensure the recovery of outstanding liquidated damages and non-performance penalties from Bharti Airtel Ltd," the CAG said.
According to the report, only 431 of the approved 756 sites were commissioned by April 2021.
The DBN, formerly the Universal Services Obligation Fund, revised the target to 562 sites, but 124 sites still remained uncommissioned (April 2025), attracting liquidated damages (LD) and non-performance penalties (NPP) amounting to Rs 19.47 crore, the report said.
"Out of the total penalty, DBN recovered only Rs 10.98 crore, leaving Rs 8.49 crore outstanding even four years after the expiry of the rollout period. The prolonged delays and pending recoveries indicate weak contract enforcement," the CAG said.