Aircel, the telecom operator which closed operations back in January 2018, is still in the news due to some pending dues. Aircel distributors approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday in search of classification on financial or operational creditor in the telco's insolvency matter. Over 53 distributors sought to be named either as an operational creditor or a financial creditor, reports PTI. These distributors urged that they have purchased vouchers from Aircel in 2017, but the telco closed operations in February 2018, post which there's no update on when it will pay back the amount to distributors. Besides the distributors, Indus Towers also wrote to NCLT that Aircel owes them Rs 843 crore and it sought directions against the resolution professional.
Aircel in Deep Trouble as NCLT, Indus Towers Approach NCLT
Aircel distributors claim that the company is yet to return the pending dues for the products they took before the closure of services. "Aircel did not deliver the products or return their payments," they added, as reported by PTI. There's no update regarding Aircel on this matter though. Even in the past, we have heard Aircel distributors going against the company and they have now approached NCLT. In the note to NCLT, distributors also claimed that they brought vouchers and other products from Aircel under the "distributorship agreement."
Indus Towers also wrote to NCLT that Aircel and other connected companies are yet to clear dues of Rs 843 crore. The tower company has sought directions from the tribunal against the resolution professional of Aircel, but the latter did not admit the entire value claimed by Indus Towers. For the unaware, Aircel along with its subsidiaries Dishnet Wireless and Aircel Cellular have to pay around Rs 50,000 crore to the creditors.
The NCLT has kept a hearing on both the distributors and Indus Towers matter for next week.
Aircel Closed Operations in January 2018
Back in December 2017, Aircel, in a written note to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said that it's closing services and surrendering entire license in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh-West circles. The reason behind Aircel's demise was cutthroat competition brought by Reliance Jio.
Right now, Airtel has liabilities of around Rs 15,500 crore to financial creditors and Rs 35,000 crore to operational creditors. Aircel' assets like spectrum licenses and fibre assets combined value around Rs 32,362 crore.
