Vodafone Idea Gets a Relief of Rs 755.52 Crore

Reported by Tanuja K December 20th, 2023 at 02:09 pm

To ensure that the merger goes through, the telco paid off the amount to the government. DoT had asked Vi to pay Rs 3,926.34 crore as spectrum liability. While Vi paid the amount at the time, later the telco found errors in the calculation by DoT and thus approached TDSAT to get the amount adjusted.

Highlights

Vodafone Idea (Vi), a prominent Indian telecom operator, has finally got relief in some form.
The telecom disputes tribunal has recognised the telco's appeal and received a relief of Rs 755.52 crore.
TDSAT has recognised the mistake made by the DoT during calculations and has asked the telecom department to adjust the amount against Vi's SUC and LF liabilities.

vodafone idea gets a relief of rs

Vodafone Idea (Vi), a prominent Indian telecom operator, has finally got relief in some form. The telecom disputes tribunal has recognised the telco's appeal and received a relief of Rs 755.52 crore. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been asked to adjust Rs 755.52 crore towards the license fee (LF) and spectrum usage charges (SUC) of Vi within 15 days. Vi approached the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to appeal against the miscalculation by DoT for the amount it collected from the company during the time of the merger.

To ensure that the merger goes through, the telco paid off the amount to the government. DoT had asked Vi to pay Rs 3,926.34 crore as spectrum liability. While Vi paid the amount at the time, later the telco found errors in the calculation by DoT and thus approached TDSAT to get the amount adjusted. As per Vi's calculation, the amount that it had to pay for spectrum liability was Rs 3,170.82 crore, while it had to pay Rs 3,926.34 crore.

TDSAT has recognised the mistake made by the DoT during calculations and has asked the telecom department to adjust the amount against Vi's SUC and LF liabilities, according to a report from the NewIndianExpress. While the cash-strapped telecom operator is finding it hard to raise funds, this development will certainly make Vi happy. The telco's merger was completed in 2018 and since then, it hasn't posted profits once.

The overall subscriber base has declined pretty fast and now the active subscriber base of Vi has fallen below the 200 million mark. Vi was expected to raise funds by the end of the December 2023 quarter. But that is likely not going to happen now as the talks with the potential investor have gone south. For now, the telco is looking to raise money by selling its fiber assets and in-building solutions (IBS). Vi is expected to raise about Rs 12,000 crore through fiber assets and IBS.