Reliance Communications Ltd (RCL) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) have finally been allowed by the government to exit from all non-implemented Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) sites across the country.

Under the USOF project, mobile phone operators receive subsidy to share infrastructure and offer telephony services in specified rural and remote areas.

The two Anil Ambani-owned firms were among telecom operators which were assigned with the task of providing mobile services in specified remote areas in a time-bound manner around 2008. But, a law ministry's arbitral tribunal allowed the two companies to exit without any penalty.

Pronouncing he verdict, Justice AR Lakshmanan said, "I hold that the claimants are entitled to exit from their continued performance of the obligations under the agreements without levy of penalty or interest."

Justice Lakshmanan also declared that the two companies were not entitled to any damages/compensation in respect of expenditure occurred in the course of performing the services assigned to them under the project.

The two companies had entered the agreements in 2007; but the companies switched off more than 1,400 telecom towers between November 2010 and January 2011, citing financial issues. It impaired mobile connectivity in several remote areas, prompting an NGO to accuse the companies of breaching the terms of the agreement.