NEW DELHI: Reliance Jio Infocomm has asked the telecom department to levy penalties on — and even terminate the licences of — Bharti Airtel Vodafone India and Idea Cellular , alleging that the rivals paid around Rs 400 crore less in licence fee to the government than what they should have for the January-March quarter.Jio wrote to the Department of Telecom early this month seeking an inquiry against the larger rivals, arguing that they made the lower payments "wilfully and intentionally" in violation of licence rules. Any delay in punitive actions against them would set a bad precedent, it wrote.The licence fee is paid quarterly on the basis of the estimated adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the carriers. Companies have to pay the fee based on the estimated AGR for that quarter or the amount paid in the prior quarter, whichever is higher. Jio’s argument is that the licence fee the three paid in March was lower compared with what they did three months earlier. The industry lobby group had earlier requested the government to allow the companies to pay the fee based on the estimated revenue for the last quarter because of their stressed financial condition, but it is not known if that has been approved or not.Citing clauses from the unified licence and unified access services licence, Jio said if a licensee fails to perform licence obligations including timely payments of fee and other charges, DoT can terminate or revoke the licence. The licensor can impose financial penalty not exceeding the amount prescribed in the licence, which is Rs 50 crore per circle in case of violation of licence rules, it noted."The said violation of the incumbent telecom service providers constitutes a wilful and material breach, warranting stringent and punitive action," the new company said in its May 15 communication to DoT's member finance. ET has seen a copy of that letter.But in case DoT has already amended the licences, allowing the telcos to pay the lower amount, it should be communicated so that Jio can get its licence appropriately amended, it added.Seeking a level playing field, the Mukesh Ambani owned telecom services provider said DoT should not consider now telcos' request made early March to make lower the licence fee payment, as it would be "a gross violation of licence conditions and any relief will tantamount to rewarding a party in breach".While Bharti Airtel and Idea declined to comment, Vodafone countered the allegations and blamed Jio's promotional tariffs for causing the financial loss to the government."Licence fees have been paid on FY 2016-17 revenues. The payment basis and revenues were duly informed to DoT and there is no revenue loss to DoT as alleged," a Vodafone spokesperson said. "In fact due to zero and below cost tariffs by Jio, which are against the tariff regulations, industry has suffered a huge revenue loss which has in turn resulted in reduction in revenue share to the government.”Jio's communication comes more than two months after the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) sought DoT's approval to pay licence fee on the basis of the estimated AGR for the January-March quarter. In the request dated March 1, COAI had cited Jio’s promotional plans for the stressed financial condition of the three telcos.The Telecom Commission (TC), the ministry's highest decision-making body, had in February pulled up the sector regulator over the deteriorating health of the sector, citing a Rs 800 crore drop in the revenue of telcos in the October-December period and the resultant fall in the licence fee and spectrum usage charge paid to the government. TC had also asked Trai to restrict promotional offers to the mandated 90 days — referring to Jio's free offers, without naming the company — and said stretching such offers was a key reason for the government's revenue loss. But the Telecomm Regulatory Authority of India countered this position and said DoT should instead implement the watchdog's numerous suggestions aimed at improving the sector.In April, DoT again flagged a nearly 30% sequential fall in licence fee collections from the industry in the quarter ended March, mainly because a slew of promotional plans that hurt revenue of telcos. Under stress, telcos took the matter to telecom minister Manoj Sinha, seeking exceptions and relief to tide over their financial turmoil, citing that provisional licence fee, spectrum usage charge and service tax collections would be on the decline after years of steady growth.In its letter to DoT, Jio argued that though the department did not accept COAI’s request, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea went ahead and paid the lower amount on March 25, “in utter violation” of the licence rules.Jio said the three telcos paid a total of Rs 2,050 crore for the fourth quarter, Rs 400 crore less than the third quarter. Bharti Airtel paid Rs 950 crore, Rs 150 crore lower than what it paid in the third quarter, while Vodafone India paid Rs 550 crore, Rs 200 crore less and for Idea, the payment was supposed to be Rs 609.4 crore, which was short by Rs 60 crore, Jio alleged.Citing financial results of Bharti Airtel released on May 9, Jio said its actual AGR for the fourth quarter was substantially higher than what was projected while making the advance licence fee payment.