BHARTI CELLULAR LTD. vs UNION OF INDIA .

The Supreme Court upheld the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal's order under Section 18 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, affirming the computation of the licence fee based on the date of interface/service approval rather than the commercial service commencement date. The Court clarified that the term 'subscribers' in the Licence Agreement refers to those with activated connections, and upheld the method of calculating the licence fee based on the revised Unit Call Rate. The appeal was dismissed, confirming the Tribunal's decision on the computation of dues and penalties.