WEB DESK
The Supreme Court has refused Vodafone Idea’s proposal to pay Rs. 2,500 crores by today and Rs. 1000 crores by Friday against Adjusted Gross Revenue dues and request for no coercive action. The debt ridden telecom firm’s liability is estimated to be over Rs. 53,000 crores, including over Rs. 24,700 crores of spectrum dues and Rs. 28,300 crore in licence
Vodafone Idea Ltd. had earlier warned of shutdown if no relief is given.
Meanwhile, telecom provider Bharti Airtel has paid Rs. 10,000 crores of its statutory dues to the telecom department. The government assesses that Airtel owes nearly 35,586 crores in licence fees.
The telecom companies have made the payments comprising licence fees and spectrum dues following the telecom department’s orders asking firms to clear past dues immediately or face action.
15 such firms owe the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore following the Supreme court’s order in October last year, saying that revenue from non-core businesses should be included in calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies.