India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is asking operators for increased revenue share payments on services dating from 2008, reports the Economic Times.

The three biggest operators in India, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone, have been issued with the notices and officials said other operators will be contacted in the coming days.

Vodafone has been requested to pay a total of INR8.77 billion ($162.6 million), with Bharti Airtel recieving a bill form more than INR12.0 billion. Reliance did not disclose the payments they have been asked to make.

According to the Economic Times, the Indian government believes that the revenue share on spectrum usage is applicable to total sales, whereas operators believe it is only applicable to revenue from mobile services.

A DoT official said the notices were issued after a court decision in October 2011 ruled that the government could collect revenue share from non-telecom activities.

The licence fees have now been recalculated to include revenue from corporate receipts, handset sales, real estate transactions and interest earned on bank deposits.

An operator executive told the Economic Times that the mobile firms will seek a stay of the new revenue share charges.

The DoT is also attempting to levy surcharges on operators that held GSM licences before 2008 in order to level the playing field for newer entrants that have been forced to pay more for spectrum in a recent re-auction.