Debt-ridden telecom operators are likely to opt for a three-month moratorium to avoid a cash crunch during the lockdown, industry body COAI said on Saturday.
The telecom operators have spoken in favour of raising mobile call and internet rates at the earliest even as they will keep the prices stable during the lockdown period, COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews said.
“There is a debt of around Rs 1.6-2 lakh crore that telecom operators owe to Indian banks. They will opt for the three-month moratorium in loan repayment to help them maintain cash flow. It is a relief for them,” Mathews said.
The RBI on Friday allowed banks to put on hold EMI payments on all term loans for three months, slashed the cost of fresh borrowing by cutting policy interest rate by the steepest in more than 11 years.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) also allayed fears of a hike in tariff by the telecom operators.
“Telecom companies understand market situation. They will keep the tariff stable for now,” Mathews said.
Telecom operators have been asking for fixed minimum tariff for call and data rates. 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, mobile internet prices will rise 5-10 times from the current level.
