NEW DELHI: Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman Anil Ambani avoided a three-month jail term by paying Rs 458.77 crore in dues to Swedish telecom gear-maker Ericsson, a day before the deadline set by the Supreme Court, on Monday. Confirming the repayment, the RCom chief thanked his brother Mukesh Ambani and wife for their “timely support.” In a separate development, the same day, RCom’s asset sale deal with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio was called off.
Last month, the Supreme Court, observing that there was a wilful default, held Ambani, along with Chhaya Virani and Satish Seth, chairmen of RCom units Reliance Infratel and Reliance Telecom, guilty of contempt of court. It had ordered RCom to clear dues to Ericsson within four weeks (by March 19) or face three-month jail. RCom had earlier missed two deadlines — on September 30 and December 15, 2018.
Ericsson had moved a bankruptcy court in 2017 alleging that it had not been paid dues of around Rs 1,500 crore after signing a seven-year deal in 2013 to operate and manage RCom’s nationwide network. Later, Ericsson accepted RCom’s offer to pay Rs 550 crore. RCom, which has a debt of over Rs 46,000 crore, was once one of India’s leading telcos, but closed its wireless business in 2017, amid disruption caused by the entry of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.
In December 2017, RCom had signed a blockbuster deal with Jio for the sale of wireless spectrum, tower, fibre and media convergence nodes assets, the proceeds of which were to be used to pare its debt. However, owning to several litigations, the deal never took off.
On Monday, the two groups called off the deal, citing delays in approvals from government and lenders.