Starlink India CEO Quits As Elon Musk's Company Faces Licensing Issues

Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink is facing a difficult time in the Indian market after it quietly rolled out internet services in the country in early 2021 only to shut down services after government intervention. Now Starlink India director Sanjay Bhargava has announced that he has resigned from the company.

Bhargava in a LinkedIn post said: "I have stepped down as Country Director and Chairman of the Board of Starlink India for personal reasons. My last working day was December 31, 2021. I will have no comments for individuals and the media so please respect my privacy."

In November 2021, the Department of Telecommunications warned Indians not to buy Elon Musk's Starlink Internet services in the country as they are not yet licensed in India. In a statement, the telecommunications department told Elon Musk's company to "get a license before offering satellite-based services."

The government noted that "Starlink Internet Services" is not licensed to offer satellite internet services in India which are advertised to the public.

"It has come to notice that M/s Starlink has started pre-selling/booking of the satellite based Starlink Internet Services in India. The same is also evident from the website of Starlink (www.starlink.com) wherein satellite based internet services can be booked by users in Indian territory," said the government.

In another development, the government had asked the company to refund all of its pre-orders until it gets a license to operate in the country. As has always been the case, you can receive a refund at any time, the company said in an email to one of its customers. Reuters has seen a copy of the email.

Starlink, a division of Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, has already received more than 5,000 pre-orders for its devices in India but is struggling to receive commercial licenses without which it cannot offer any services in the country.

"Unfortunately, the timeline for receiving licenses to operate is currently unknown, and there are several issues that must be resolved with the licensing framework to allow us to operate Starlink in India," the company said in the email.