Telecom Watchdog, a consumer forum and a non-governmental organisation, has urged the Government to reject beleaguered operator Vodafone Idea Ltd’s (VIL) request for more time to pay dues of Rs 8,292 crore. The not-for-profit organisation has termed VIL’s request for one-year deferment to pay the dues as “illegal”, even as it called for a forensic audit of the firm’s last 10 years’ accounts. On its part, VIL had sought to deferment its dues owed to the Government to April 2023 from April 2022. The telecom operator has also sought permission to hike telecom tariffs, which were among the lowest in the world due to hyper-competition in India. The forum said it was also surprising to note that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was considering the request, that too at a time when the country is dealing with the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also alleged that the deferments are being sought with incorrect facts and despite financially sound promoters.
Telecom Not Impacted by COVID-19
“Fortunately, the telecom sector is one of the few sectors which is not affected due to Covid-19 pandemic and revenues of this sector have actually increased due to growing demand of data services. In this situation, such request only points to the habit of seeking further concessions by blackmailing the government in the name of reduction in competition in the liberalised sector,” it said. According to Telecom Watchdog, VIL’s promoters - Kumar Manglam Birla and UK’s Vodafone Group - are financially strong, and their reluctance in clearing Government dues is not proper. The promoters could infuse funds in the company to ensure timely payment of Government dues. The Government has already extended the number of benefits to telecom operators, including a two-year moratorium in 2019 on spectrum payments, which gave reliefs of more than Rs 42,000 crore. Within a year, the DoT again allowed operators to pay Adjusted Gross Revenues (AGR) dues over a period of 10 years. In addition, the Government also allowed deferred payment of AGR dues at a concessional rate, which would cost the exchequer about Rs 32,000 crore. Telecom Watchdog alleged that there is no merit in VIL’s submission for deferring the payment of the next instalment of dues and should be ignored forthwith. Further, the government should order a forensic audit into the affairs of the company. A Vi spokesperson said that industry players have already said how the telecom industry is under tremendous ‘stress’. Even the industry body, the COAI, has pointed out the need for ‘floor pricing’ for restoring the health of the telecom sector. The spokesperson further said that the company wouldn’t like to comment on ill-informed conclusions and speculative commentary.
