The Indian CBEC has asked the telecommunication department for a copy of special audits undertaken on the books of telecom operators to examine the service tax angle, reports Media.

Since companies pay 6-10 percent of their annual revenue as licence fee, 2-6 percent as spectrum usage charges and 12 percent as service tax, reporting lower revenue brings down the component they have to share with the government. The special audit reports of all mobile phone companies have been submitted to the DoT.

The CBEC will examine if the exchequer has lost on service tax due to under-reporting by mobile companies. In August, a DoT committee was set up to examine the special auditor's report. The audit reports of Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices are currently being examined by the committee.

Following this, the communication ministry had asked all companies to submit their books to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a constitutional body that conducts independent audits of all government accounts.