Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.

In the RESERVE BANK OF INDIA Foreign Exchange Department Secretariat Road Saifabad, Hyderabad 500 004 Present Ramanath Dash Regional Director Date: October 27, 2016 C.A. HYD 140 In the matter of M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (formerly M/s. Aster Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd) No. 37-2, Plot No. 332, Mani Mansion Defence Colony, Sainikpuri Secunderabad 500094. . (Applicant) In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 15 (1) of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and the Regulations/ Rules/ Notifications/ Orders made there under, I pass the following Order The applicant has filed the compounding application dated June 09, 2016 received on June 15, 2016 for compounding of contraventions of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (the FEMA) and the regulations issued there under. The contraventions sought to be compounded are (i) delay in reporting receipt of foreign inward remittances; (ii) delay in submission of Form FC-GPR to the Reserve Bank after issue of shares towards subscription to equity to a person resident outside India in terms of Paragraph 9 (1) (A) and Paragraph 9 (1) (B) of Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2000 of FED M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. CA No. HYD 140 Schedule 1 to Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000 notified vide Notification No. FEMA.20/2000-RB dated 3rd May 2000 and as amended from time to time (hereinafter referred to as Notification No. FEMA 20 /2000-RB). 2. The relevant facts of the case are as follows: a) The applicant is a resident company incorporated as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956 on 28.03.2002 under the name of M/s. Aster Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. and changed its name to M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. with effect from 09.08.2010. The company is engaged in the business of maintenance of telecom network. b) The applicant had received foreign inward remittances from Foreign Companies towards advance for subscription to equity shares as indicated below:

Sr Name of Remitter Date of Date of Total Amount (`) No. Receipt Reporting 1 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 40,24,88,519 24.07.2007 24.09.2007 2 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 40,90,21,245 05.09.2007 18.10.2007 3 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 6,78,67,767 25.10.2007 19.11.2007 4 NSR QSR PE Mauritius LLC 5,96,61,000 25.03.2010 23.04.2010 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 9,03,39,000 25.03.2010 23.04.2010 5 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 20,00,00,000 14.08.2008 28.05.2009 6 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 19,99,48,011.43 03.12.2008 28.05.2009 7 8 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 20,00,00,000 24.02.2011 19.03.2011 9 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 40,00,00,000 05.03.2012 29.03.2012 10 NSR QSR PE Mauritius LLC 15,00,00,000 19.12.2011 16.01.2012 11 NSR QSR PE Mauritius LLC 50,00,00,000 26.12.2011 16.01.2012 12 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 5,00,00,000 23.06.2012 13.07.2012

FED M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. CA No. HYD 140 13 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 9,75,00,000 03.07.2012 13.07.2012 14 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 5,00,00,000 19.07.2012 07.08.2012 15 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 5,25,00,000 30.07.2012 28.08.2012 16 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 5,00,00,000 24.08.2012 18.09.2012 17 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 5,00,00,000 18.09.2012 23.10.2012 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 18 23,55,31,254 27.09.2012 26.10.2012 19 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 10,00,00,000 16.10.2012 14.11.2012 20 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 3,00,00,000 21.12.2012 18.01.2013 21 NSR PE Mauritius LLC 12,00,00,000 04.01.013 18.01.2013 NSR QSR PE Mauritius LLC 12,00,00,000 14.07.2015 11.08.2015 22 Ascend Telecom Holdings 24,99,99,750 07.11.2015 01.12.2015 23 Mauritius LLC Total 388,48,56,546

The applicant reported receipt of remittances towards share subscription amounting to ` 388,48,56,546/- to the Regional Office of Reserve Bank of India and remittances amounting to ` 126,14,57,775.43 was reported with delay ranging from 5 days to 8 months 14 days approximately as indicated above. Whereas in terms of paragraph 9 (1) (A) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB, an Indian company issuing shares or convertible debentures in accordance with these Regulations should report to the Reserve Bank of India as per the prescribed procedure not later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the amount of consideration.

FED M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. CA No. HYD 140 c) The company allotted equity shares and filed Form FC-GPRs as indicated below:

Sl Name of Investor Date of Number of Amount for Date of No allotment of shares which shares reporting to shares allotted allotted (`) RBI NSR PE 1 24.07.2007 1,096 39,77,70,436 07.09.2007 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 2 21.08.2007 13 47,18,080 07.09.2007 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 3 05.09.2007 1,127 40,90,21,242 21.09.2007 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 4 25.10.2007 187 6,78,67,766 14.11.2007 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 5 23.10.2008 551 19,99,74,006 27.11.2008 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 6 04.12.2008 551 19,99,74,006 24.12.2008 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 7 02.08.2010 4,51,695 9,03,39,000 16.08.2010 Mauritius LLC NSR QSR PE 8 02.08.2010 2,98,305 5,96,61,000 16.08.2010 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 9 04.08.2011 4,93,827 19,99,99,935 18.08.2011 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 10 13.06.2012 11,76,470 39,99,99,800 13.07.2012 Mauritius LLC NSR QSR PE 11 27.03.2012 16,03,236 64,99,99,971 26.04.2012 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 12 14.08.2012 7,35,294 24,99,99,960 27.09.2012 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 13 27.09.2012 2,94,119 10,00,00,460 26.10.2012 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 14 28.09.2012 6,67,927 23,55,31,098 26.10.2012 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 15 12.03.2013 3,68,658 12,99,99,871 15.03.2013 Mauritius LLC NSR PE 16 28.03.2013 2,94,652 11,99,99,974 24.04.2013 Mauritius LLC Ascend Telecom 17 10.09.2015 4,44,444 11,99,99,880 09.10.2015 Holdings

FED M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. CA No. HYD 140 Mauritius LLC Ascend Telecom 18 Holdings 25.11.2015 9,25,925 24,99,99,750 04.01.2016 Mauritius LLC Total 388,48,56,235

The applicant filed Form FC-GPRs for the allotment of shares amounting to ` 388,48,56,235/- and delayed in filing of the FC-GPRs amounting to ` 109,77,44,152/- as indicated above with a delay ranging from 5 days to 15 days approximately beyond the prescribed limit. Whereas in terms of paragraph 9 (1) (B) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB, an Indian company issuing shares in accordance with these Regulations has to submit to Reserve Bank a report in Form FC- GPR along with documents prescribed therein within 30 days from the date of issue of shares to person resident outside India.

3 a) The applicant was given an opportunity for personal hearing vide Reserve Bank’s letter No. HY.FE.FID/756/14.66.003/2016-17 dated October 17, 2016 for further submission in person and/or producing documents, if any, in support of the application. (b) The applicant appeared for personal hearing on October 21, 2016 during which Shri Naga Anil Kumar G, Deputy General Manager- Legal of the company represented the applicant. The applicant admitted the contraventions for which the compounding has been sought. During the personal hearing it was submitted that the delay was due to inadvertence and un-intentional and was not willful or with a malafide intention. In view of the foregoing, the applicant requested to take a lenient view in disposal of the application. The application for compounding is, therefore, being considered on the basis of the averments made in the application as well as the submissions made in this context by the applicant during the personal hearing. 4. I have given my careful consideration to the documents on record and submission made by the applicant during the personal hearing. Accordingly, I hold that the applicant has contravened the following FEMA provisions issued in terms of:

FED M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. CA No. HYD 140 (a) Paragraph 9 (1) (A) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. FEMA.20/ 2000-RB due to delay in reporting of receipt of foreign inward remittances towards subscription to equity shares as detailed above. The contraventions relate to an amount of ` 126,14,57,775.43 and the duration of contravention ranges from 5 days to 8 months 14 days approximately.

(b) Paragraph 9 (1) (B) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. 20/2000-RB due to delay in submission of Form FC-GPRs to Reserve Bank after issue of shares to persons resident outside India and the contravention relates to an amount of ` 109,77,44,152/- and the duration of contravention ranges from 5 days to 15 days approximately. 5. In terms of Section 13 of the FEMA, any person contravening any provision of the Act shall be liable to a penalty upto thrice the sum involved in such contravention upon adjudication. However, taking into account the relevant facts and circumstances of the case as stated in the foregoing paragraphs, I am persuaded to take a lenient view on the amount for which the contravention is to be compounded and I consider that an amount of Rs. 1,89,000/- (Rupees One Lakh Eighty Nine Thousand Only) will meet the ends of justice. 6. Accordingly, I compound the admitted contraventions namely, the contraventions of Paragraph 9 (1) (A) and Paragraph 9 (1) (B) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. FEMA- 20/2000-RB by the applicant on the facts discussed above in terms of the Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules, 2000 on payment of an amount of Rs. 1,89,000/- (Rupees One Lakh Eighty Nine Thousand Only) which shall be deposited by the applicant with the Reserve Bank of India, Foreign Exchange Department, 1st Floor, Saifabad, Hyderabad - 500004 by a demand draft drawn in favour of the "Reserve Bank of India" and payable at Hyderabad within a period of 15 days from the date of this order. In case of failure to deposit the compounded amount within the above mentioned period, Rule10 of the Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules, 2000 dated May 3, 2000 shall apply.

FED M/s. Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. CA No. HYD 140

The application is disposed accordingly. Dated this 27th day of October 2016.

Sd/- (Ramanath Dash) Regional Director