NEW DELHI: Telecom service provider Vodafone Idea is planning to pay dues of Rs 2,400 to the government by September 2023, according to a report. The telco recently cleared pending dues of licence fees and spectrum usage charges of about Rs 450 crore for the March quarter of 2022-23.
Last week, the telco informed in an exchange filing that one of its promoters is ready to infuse Rs 2,000 crore in the event of any fund requirement for meeting its impending payment obligation to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).
The company also announced that DoT requested to defer its annual 5G spectrum purchased instalment by a month, and it was ready to pay the interest on the amount. The telco, in a letter to the government, proposed to pay an instalment of Rs 1,680 crore, which was due on August 17, 2023.
According to the report, the company has sought 30 days to clear the spectrum payment, and the company is also gearing up to clear the licence fee payment by September. The late payment of the spectrum instalment will attract a 15 per cent interest rate on an annual basis.
The company will have to pay nearly Rs 1,700 crore for spectrum instalments and about Rs 710 crore for licence fee dues with interest. The total amount pending to be cleared by September is over Rs 2,400 crore. In its earnings report for April to June 2023, the company posted a loss of Rs 7,840 crore. However, its average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 3 per cent sequentially to Rs 139.
The company stated that its 4G customer base grew from 122.6 million to 122.9 million compared to the previous quarter. During this quarter, the company lost 4.5 million mobile subscribers, bringing its user base to 221.4 million as of June 2023.