Telangana Adopts New Telecom Act; Bars Property Tax on Telecom Networks
All municipalities, corporations, gram panchayats and other authorities must ensure such networks are excluded from tax assessment.
Hyderabad:The state government on Saturday adopted the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024, superseding its 2021 RoW orders and barring municipalities and local bodies from levying property tax, cess or other duties on telecom networks installed on, over or under any property. The ITE&C department’s GO Ms. No. 3 said the move would ensure uniform implementation of the Central law, enable time-bound digital processing of Right of Way (RoW) applications and protect underground telecom infrastructure.
Under the new orders, all departments, local bodies, corporations and public sector units must nominate nodal officers and onboard them on the Union department of telecom (DoT) Telecom e-Services portal within 30 days, with all RoW applications to be processed exclusively through the portal. BharatNet has been notified as a special project, and public entities cannot charge any fee, rent, annuity or bank guarantee from its implementing agencies or contractors for telecom infrastructure on public property.
In a major relief to telecom operators, the government directed that telecommunication networks installed on, over or under a property shall not be treated as part of that property for any transaction, property tax, levy, cess, fees or duties. All municipalities, corporations, gram panchayats and other authorities must ensure such networks are excluded from tax assessment.
The orders also make the central “Call Before u Dig” (CBuD) app mandatory for all excavation work, with damage to critical telecom infrastructure punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine up to ₹2 crore, or both. Discoms must treat electricity connections for BharatNet and other notified telecom projects as government connections, prioritise new links and move to composite billing for multi-site operators.
The special chief secretary, ITE&C, has been designated the state nodal officer, while district collectors will review progress in monthly telecom committee meetings and the state broadband committee will conduct quarterly reviews. All pending RoW applications up to March 31, 2026, are to be cleared by September 30.
