Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea (VIL) on Saturday said the company has received no word from the government on the proposed conversion of the telco’s dues into equity.

Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra said he is not aware of the exact reasons why things were not moving.

“We are in discussion with the government... I also don’t know exactly the reason it is not happening. The government is taking some time. We had exercised this option to convert in January, post that we had a discussion with the department of telecom (DoT), they had sent a letter to us in March, and we had confirmed the amount of conversion,” he said.

Since then, VIL has had “no communication from DoT in this matter”. “So, we continue to be engaged with DoT and expect this should happen soon,” Moondra added.

Seeks tariff correction

Moondra on Saturday pitched for tariff corrections as the present prices were at “unsustainable levels”.

Analysts said the tariff hike could be in a phased manner from the fourth quarter of this fiscal so that the impact of the price increase does not blow off the consumers amidst inflationary pressure in the economy.

ViL reported that its average revenue or realisation per user was at Rs 131 in Q2 FY23, which was 19.5 per cent higher than the year-ago period, aided chiefly by tariff hikes and subscriber upgrades.

ARPU for the September quarter was higher sequentially as well when compared with Rs 128 in Q1 FY23.

“Despite the price intervention made in the last year, the tariffs in India continue to remain at unsustainable levels. We believe that the industry needs further tariff correction to support the continued investments going forward,” Moondra said during the company’s analyst call on Q2 FY23earnings.

Analysts said tariff hikes are likely to be more frequent, going forward, with Jio more willing to participate in tariff hikes as it also needs to start focussing on profitability. Airtel could gain significantly given its sticky and premium quality of its subscribers, ensuring that tariff hikes flow through to ARPUs.

Jefferies have estimated that India mobile ARPUs are likely to rise from Rs 160 in FY22 to Rs 245 in FY25E, driven by tariff hikes.