Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea Limited and Tata Teleservices have filed separate review petitions in the Supreme Court for the October 24 order which burdened eight companies with additional Rs. 92,000 crores to be paid to the Department of Telecom.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea posted a combined loss of Rs. 74,000 crores in July-September quarter after adjusting for the pending dues, following the Supreme Court order.
The Centre on Wednesday cleared a proposal to give telecom operators the option to defer payment of spectrum-related installments for next two financial years. In an official statement, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs said the move was aimed at easing the cash outflow of the telecom service providers facing financial stress. Companies opting for the scheme would be allowed to defer spectrum dues for either or both of financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22, it said.
Shares of telecom firms Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea snapped their 4-day winning streak soon after the government announced the relief.
Earlier this month, the Centre refused to waive the Rs. 92K dues of the telecom companies.
Supreme Court, in its October 24 judgment, had expanded the definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue(AGR) to also include non-core actives like dividends, handset sales, rent and profit from the sale of scrap, apart from revenue from services.
Telecom companies were originally accorded 90 days by the apex court to cough up their dues.
— India Legal Bureau