The Supreme Court has declined the request of Vodafone Group PLC’S India Unit seeking tax refunds of Rs 4,760 crore from the federal government. Vodafone Group appealed to the apex body and stated that the income tax department retained the dues since 2018, which resulted in a massive amount of tax dues. However, the Supreme Court just allowed refund of Rs 733 crore and closed the matter.
Vodafone Idea Already Struggling to Pay Massive AGR Dues
The entire telecom industry was disrupted by the supreme court decisions regarding the payment AGR dues assessed by DoT. Telcom operators lost the case and have to pay Rs 1.43 lakh crore towards the dues to the government. Out of all the telecom operators, Vodafone Idea was walloped by the supreme court decision. The telco giant has to approximately clear 53,000 crores to Dot toward AGR dues. Telecom operators are already clearing the massive AGR dues assessed by DoT. In such a case, another setback for the Vodafone Group will hamper the credibility of operations and bring financial distress.
Vodafone Idea Did Not Report Profits Since 2017
Vodafone Idea has been facing lots of financial distress in the last three years. The major setback for the telco giant was the default of AGR dues. As per DoT officials, telco giant has to pay approximately 53,000 crores to DoT towards AGR dues. Vodafone Idea was already facing substantial financial distress and added pressure of AGR dues made it worse for the telco giant to report profits in the financial sheet. However, Vodafone Idea is still ensuring seamless services and connectivity in the lockdown period to ensure that its subscribers are connected with their loved ones.
Vodafone Transferred $200 Million to Vodafone Idea
In other news, Vodafone Group transferred payment of $200 million to Vodafone Idea for clearing off financial liabilities and maintain liquidity position of the firm. Vodafone Group cleared the payment under the CLC term which stated that Vodafone Group must make payments to Vodafone Idea if payments made by Idea Cellular Exceeds Vodafone.
