Vodafone Idea urged the government to give them a period of 15 years to pay their AGR dues. Also, the telco giant has asked DoT and government officials to provide a tax refund, slack their license fees and spectrum usage charges (SUC) along with the introduction of floor tariffs which would help the stressed telco to ensure their sustainability in the market. Vodafone Idea has to pay a whopping amount of Rs 57,000 crore in AGR dues to DoT. However, the telco giant has self-assessed an amount of Rs 23,000 crore out of which Rs 7,000 crore is the principal amount. This news is reported by ET Telecom.
Vodafone Idea Seeks Relief of Rs 8,000 crore
According to the open letter which was sent to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Niti Ayog and finance minister, the distressed telco which has almost over 300 million subscribers urged the government to give some relief measures which would ensure their operations. The letter was pushed before the official meeting of Digital Communications Commission (DCC) which is known to be the highest decision-making body of DoT.
In the official letter, the telco giant asked the government to give a refund of Rs 8,000 crore in Goods and Service Tax (GST) which could be further adjusted in their AGR dues. Not only this, the telco appealed the government to pay the remaining amount in a staggered manner in a period of 15 years after an initial moratorium of three years.
Vodafone Idea Calls for Reduction in License Fees and SUC
Cash experts have marked that Vodafone Idea will face trouble paying their self-assessed amount of Rs 23,000 crore as the telco giant has just paid Rs 3,500 crore to DoT. However, the merger of Vodafone India and Idea cellular has already shown their fear of closing down the operations if no relief is given by the government.
As per the sources of ET, Vodafone Idea has also asked the government to reduce license fees and spectrum usage charges. The telco giant pays 8% AGR dues as their license fees which they want to cut to 3%. The government is already considering deferring license fees and SUC payments for an extended period which would free up cash flows along with creating a stress fund to offer loans on easy terms.
