New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a notice to telecom firm Uninor seeking a reply to a show cause it had issued earlier on alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations.
ED on July 5 wrote to Uninor saying the company had not replied to its earlier show cause notice on alleged FEMA violations and asked the company to file its replies within two weeks, sources privy to the development said.
The case relates to late disclosure and clearance sought by Uninor for the second round of investment received from Norwegian firm Telenor, which owns a controlling majority stake in the company (67.25 per cent). The rest of the shareholding is with Unitech.
Unitech Wireless that operates under the Uninor brand issued additional shares to Telenor Asia in ratio of 2:1 on October 1, 2010 but the same was allegedly informed to Reserve Bank of India after 66 days instead of 30 days as required under Indian laws.
When contacted a Uninor spokesperson said, "Uninor had received a notice regarding the late filing of bonus shares issued to our shareholders. We have already shared the details of this delay with the authorities within the time provided to us. This was done last month itself. There is no further information sought on this matter."
Sources said ED had issued the show cause notice on April 30.
"It is seen from the record that you have already received the Show Cause Notice but it appears that no reply has been filed so far," ED wrote to Uninor on July 5.
Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is likely to consider on Friday Telenor-controlled Unitech Wirelesses’ proposal to bring in Rs 1,200 crore as part of the rights issue that was approved last year.
PTI
