The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been instructed to rectify the excess Rs 755.52 crore it received from Vodafone Idea towards licence fee and spectrum usage costs by the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The extra amount that DoT must correct relates to the sum that it obtained from the business during Vodafone India’s 2018 merger with Idea Cellular.
For Vodafone Idea, which is heavily in debt and has been finding it difficult to get outside capital for some time, this is a huge relief.
In order to prevent any disruptions in the merger process, the business complied with DoT’s request to pay Rs 3,926.34 crore towards spectrum liabilities at the time of the merger in 2019. Later on, though, Vodafone Idea challenged the DoT’s computation in a petition submitted to the TDSAT. The corporation claims that the actual obligation amounted to Rs 3,170.82 crore.
The TDSAT order states that the DoT first demanded payment of Rs 3,926.34 crore in July 2018 for spectrum below 4.4 MHz in relation to the difference between the entry-fee paid and the price set by the market.
The merger of Vodafone Mobile Services (VMSL) and M/s Vodafone India (VIL) with M/s Idea Cellular has been approved. According to TDSAT’s ruling, the merger was authorized subject to a number of restrictions, and the respondent (government) estimated that the entire liability would be Rs 3,926.34 crore. TDSAT continued, “The revised calculation now comes to Rs 3,170.82 crore.”
The government owns roughly 33% of Vodafone Idea. In order to pay its vendors and make network investments, the company has not yet introduced 5G services and is waiting for outside funding.
