British telecom major Vodafone on Wednesday said it had sought the 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 a 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.
'Specifically, we have requested an immediate two-year moratorium on spectrum payments, lowering of licence fees and taxes, waving off interest and penalties on the AGR (adjusted gross revenue) case and ability to make the payment on principal over 10 years with a 2-year moratorium,” Vodafone chief executive Officer Nick Read said during investors presentation.
He said the outlook for its telecom joint venture in India with Aditya Birla group’s Idea “remains critical”.
Vodafone revealed Wednesday that it would cost about 200 million euros ($221 million) and over five years to remove controversial Chinese group Huawei’s equipment from core 5G European activities. “We have now decided, as a result of the EU (recommendations) and the UK government’s decision, to take out Huawei equipment from the core,” Read said in a third quarter conference call .
Airtel 5G threat
Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it would not buy 5G spectrum in the upcoming auction at the current base price. “We believe it is too high. We will not pick it up at those prices,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India and South Asia Gopal Vittal said.
Huge PSU arrears
New Delhi: Public sector companies owe the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) around Rs 2.65 lakh crore, with GAIL India alone owing around 65 per cent of the total amount, junior telecom and IT minister Sanjay Dhotre told Parliament on Wednesday.
The department has raised a demand notice to recover the due from 10 public sector undertakings (PSUs), he added.
In response to a question raised by MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh that whether a huge amount of dues fall on Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers, GAIL, Rail Tel, Power Grid and other public sector companies, Dhotre said “Yes, sir.”
