SingTel, Bharti and Tata charged over illegal ILD

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a case against Bharti Airtel, Tata Communication and Singapore Telecommunication (SingTel) for allegedly causing the loss of INR480 million (USD8.82 million) to government coffers since 2004 by illegally providing international long-distance (ILD) services. Business Today writes that the trio are being charged for criminal conspiracy and violating the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT’s) licensing regulations. The DoT and CBI claim that SingTel has been providing ILD services to Indian consumers without the requisite licence, colluding with Tata and Airtel in the process.