TELECOM AGR UPDATES

March 11. 2020
The government has received part payment of about Rs 25,900 crore from telecom operators towards statutory dues and has again directed telcos to make full payments

March 9.2020

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has come out in support of fixing minimum rates for mobile calls and data, saying there is no other option due to heavy debt of the telecom sector and unsustainable fall in prices.
At present, telecom companies are free to decide on call and data rates but due to stiff competition they have sought regulatory intervention.
Mobile subscribers get access to 4G data at a price as low as Rs 3.5 per GB but if the floor price is fixed as demanded by telecom operators, the mobile internet prices will rise 5-10 times from the current level.
Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has proposed that the minimum price of data should be fixed at Rs 35 per GB, Bharti Airtel has proposed minimum price of Rs 30 per GB for low data users and Reliance Jio wants it to be priced gradually to Rs 20 per GB.
Kant's stand comes days after Niti Aayog showed discomfort in its official response submitted to telecom regulator Trai on fixing floor price for phone calls and data prices to bail out telecom companies.

Feb 27.2020

Vodafone Idea has demanded fixing minimum tariffs for mobile data at Rs 35 per GB, around 7-8 times of current prices, and for calls at 6 paise per minute along with monthly charges from April 1 to enable it pay statutory dues and make its business sustainable.

Feb 6. 2020

British telecom major Vodafone on Wednesday said it has sought waiver of interest and penalty from statutory dues demand raised by the government from Vodafone Idea, and a time of 10 years to pay only the principal amount with a two-year moratorium.

The Supreme Court in October upheld the demand raised by the government from telecom operators to pay levies on the revenues earned by them.

Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL), in which Vodafone holds 45.39 per cent stake, is staring at unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee, and has already warned of shutdown if no relief is given.

Read reiterated that there is no change in the Vodafone position announced in November and the company will not inject any additional capital in the Indian market.

Bharti Infratel and Vodafone India hold 42 per cent stake each in Indus Towers. VIL holds an 11.15 per cent stake in the mobile tower firm which it plans to sell off once the merger is complete.