No call for but on GAIL, PowerGrid; Airtel, Voda Thought mull healing plea to stall Rs 1.47 lk cr dues on telcos
With the Excellent Court docket rejecting a evaluate of its order that put Rs 1.47 lakh crore legal responsibility of previous dues on telecom firms, companies akin to Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Thought are comparing submitting a healing petition prior to the apex court docket for leisure on consequences and fee closing date.
A 3-judge Excellent Court docket bench headed through Justice Arun Mishra on Thursday disregarded evaluate petitions filed through telecom firms in opposition to the apex court docket’s October 24, 2019 verdict that requested for inclusion of non-telecom revenues for calculating statutory dues akin to licence price and spectrum utilization price. Dues relationship again 15 years, as according to the October order, should be paid through January 23.
In a remark, Bharti Airtel, which faces a legal responsibility of just about Rs 35,586 crore, stated it used to be dissatisfied through the order and is now “comparing submitting a healing petition.”
In a overdue night trade submitting, Vodafone Thought, which has to pay Rs 53,038 crore, stated it is usually “exploring additional choices, together with submitting of a healing petition”.
Following the October 24 Excellent Court docket order, the Division of Telecom (DoT) estimated that the overall legal responsibility of 15 telecom firms, together with consequences and hobby, can be Rs 1.47 lakh crore.
It has estimated some other Rs 2.four lakh crore in legal responsibility for non-telecom firms akin to state-owned fuel application GAIL India Ltd and gear transmission company PowerGrid, which had taken licences to industry broadband on optic fibre working alongside their pipelines and transmission traces.
Assets, then again, stated no call for understand used to be served both on GAIL or PowerGrid and simplest evaluate orders have been issued which the 2 firms contested hanging throughout info on revenues earned from such licenses.
The evaluate put GAIL legal responsibility at Rs 1.72 lakh crore and that of PowerGrid at Rs 21,000 crore. Some other Rs 40,000 crore legal responsibility used to be assessed of Oil India Ltd.
On the other hand, a requirement understand used to be served in case of GNFC for Rs 15097 crore.
In a remark, Airtel stated: “Whilst respecting the Excellent Court docket’s resolution, we wish to categorical our sadness as we imagine the lengthy status disputes raised in regards to the AGR definition have been bonafide and authentic.”
The trade continues to stand critical monetary rigidity and the end result may just additional erode the viability of the field as an entire, it rued.
“The trade must proceed to spend money on increasing networks, obtaining spectrum and introducing new applied sciences like 5G. The cash now required to pay punitive hobby, penalty and hobby on penalty which paperwork just about 75 according to cent of AGR dues would have higher served the virtual challenge of the rustic,” Airtel stated.
Vodafone Thought stated “additional to our communications dated 24 October 2019, 25 October 2019 and 26 October 2019…, we want to tell you that Hon’ble Excellent Court docket has disregarded the evaluate petition filed through the corporate and different telecom operators”.
Business frame COAI stated the dismissal of the evaluate petition is the ultimate straw in contributing to monetary misery and stated it is still observed whether or not the trade will get better from this setback.
“This added monetary force at the sector may also adversely have an effect on Top Minister Narendra Modi’s imaginative and prescient of Virtual India,” COAI director common Rajan S Mathews stated expressing sadness on the apex court docket order.
“The field, which is recently reeling below a debt of Rs four lakh crore, is a key contributor to the Indian economic system on the subject of shopper receive advantages, employment, income era and contributes 6.five according to cent to the GDP. The field is already going through heavy taxes and levies within the vary of 29-32 according to cent, that are globally the perfect,” he stated.
The statutory liabilities when it comes to Bharti Airtel provides as much as just about Rs 35,586 crore, of which Rs 21,682 crore is licence price and some other Rs 13,904.01 crore is spectrum dues (with the exception of the dues of Telenor and Tata Teleservices).
This week, the Sunil Mittal led corporate raised USD three billion thru Certified Institutional Placement (QIP) and FCCB path to pay for the statutory liabilities.
Vodafone Thought — which is observing unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, together with Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence price — has already warned of close down if no reduction is given.
“If we we don’t seem to be getting anything else then I feel it’s finish of tale for Vodafone Thought,” its Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had stated ultimate month.
Birla’s Thought Cell and British telecom massive Vodafone %’s India unit had merged in 2018 to compete with the onslaught of loose voice calling and dust reasonable information unleashed through richest Indian Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.
Within the procedure, it gathered Rs 1.17 lakh crore in debt and had posted company India’s greatest loss for September 2019 quarter after it provisioned for the legal responsibility bobbing up from the Excellent Court docket AGR verdict.
“It does now not make sense to position just right cash after unhealthy. That will be finish of tale for us. We will be able to close store,” Birla had stated in December in a reaction as to if Vodafone Thought will installed extra money.
