NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea on Tuesday paid about Rs 3,043 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) towards deferred spectrum dues. The payment, which is made on the last day of deadline, by the troubled operator, comes at a time when it is struggling to stay afloat amid Rs 53,000 AGR dues.
The TSP had previously informed paying Rs 3,500 crore and is hoping for some relief, without which it has warned of shutting down its services. Vodafone Plc global CEO Nick Read, who’s likely to visit India this week, has sought a meeting with Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
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Vodafone Idea had previously requested the government to adjust its Rs 8,000 crore of Goods and Services Tax refund towards AGR dues and defer its payment schedule among other things.
Bharti Airtel has also paid Rs 1,950 crore to the government, while Reliance Jio deposited Rs 1,053 crore payment towards the dues. This is the last lot of payments the telcos will make as the government had late last year approved a two-year moratorium on such spectrum payment dues to help the crises hit sector.
Separately, Tata Teleservices paid an additional amount of about Rs 2,000 crore to the telecom department on ad hoc basis towards their AGR liabilities. The company said the payment is made in good faith and as a matter of abundant caution towards license fees, spectrum usage charges and applicable interest, penalty and interest on penalty.
"This on account payment is subject to reconciliation after the conclusion of the process of computation and verification being conducted by the DoT spanning a period beginning from FY2007 and spread across 20 circles," it added.
Voda CEO to visit India
Vodafone global CEO Nick Read will be visiting India later this week and he is expected to impress upon the government for a bailout