Vodafone Idea (Vi), the third-largest telecom operator in India, might be a little concerned about one of the provisions that was introduced with the new Telecom Bill 2023. The provision for waiving off penalties, license fees, and charges has been removed. This will make things hard for Vi in the future. The telco is struggling to pay off dues and the deferment of liabilities in 2021 helped the telco take a sigh of relief. However, from the final bill, any deferment of fees, penalties or other charges has been removed.
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This could cause problems for Vi in the future. The cash-strapped telecom operator has been trying to raise funds for several years. This new provision will make fundraising harder as the investors might be worried about the telco being able to pay off dues in time to the government. As per an ET report, a senior government official said that the power to waive off dues was removed from the final bill due to the concern that the government would then have discretionary powers, which would be a problem.
Interestingly, on the first draft of the bill, it was mentioned that the government, in special cases, would have the power to waive off dues or penalties in the interest of consumers, ensuring competition, and more. But this power was removed to not give discretionary powers to the government. Amongst the three private telecom operators, only Vi is the telco that is struggling to pay off dues. The telco has a total debt exceeding Rs 2 lakh crore and a majority of it is towards the government.
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Where the bank dues are concerned, Vi is slowly paying it off. It is the vendors such as Indus Towers that are struggling to recover money from Vi.
