The Indian national auditor had sought the assistance of the Department of Telecom to collect from Bharti Airtel the sum of INR725 crore for utilizing third generation airwaves in areas where there was no permission to do so. This was seen in an internal document reviewed by Economic Times.

In a letter to the Department of Telecom last September 19, the Comptroller and Auditor General unit had confirmed that Bharti Airtel has been charged a total of INR521.33 crore. This amount stands as a proportionate amount of the auction price for the spectrum in areas identified as Kerala, Kolkata, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Upper Pradesh East.

The letter further said that India's biggest mobile phone operator to pay INR204.35 crore for the usage fee for the spectrum where it operated in the service areas and then earn revenue from them. The spectrum usage fee is a fee paid by telecoms operators, with a rate of between 3% and 8% depending on the volume of the spectrum utilized.