Indian telecom carriers tussle with government over licence fees
BENGALURU, Sept 19 (Reuters) -India's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a request by telecom companies including Vodafone Idea VODA.NS and Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS to recalculate how much they owe the government in licence fees.
The long-standing issue has whittled away at debt-ridden Vodafone's cash flow and threatened its survival in the Indian telecom market which is dominated by Airtel and Reliance Industries' RELI.NS Jio.
Here is a timeline of events that led to the latest ruling:
2019: India's top court asks telcos to pay down dues of $13 billion on adjusted gross revenue, leading to a jump in the amount the firms owed the government.
Vodafone says it will ask the federal government for relief on payments of at least $4 billion, and a lobby group warns of catastrophe for the sector.
Airtel and Vodafone hike prices and ask the Supreme Court to review its ruling.
2020: India's top court rejects the companies' petition to review its 2019 ruling. The government orders mobile carriers to immediately pay the dues a day after the Supreme Court threatened the companies and officials with contempt proceedings.
Telecom operators get 10 years from the Supreme Court to pay the dues; firms to pay 10% of the charges owed by March 31, 2021.
2021: Non-executive Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla steps down from Vodafone, sending shares down and fuelling concerns that the Indian wireless carrier may not survive the government's bill.
Banks, led by State Bank of India SBI.NS, call on the Indian government to give debt-laden Vodafone Idea more time to clear its tax dues and spectrum fees.
Days later, India's federal cabinet approves a relief package for the cash-strapped telecoms sector including a four-year moratorium on the dues.
2022: Vodafone approves the conversion of dues and interest related to spectrum auction installments into equity in Jan.
A month later, the Indian government orders Vodafone to convert its dues of 161.33 billion rupees into equity.
2023: A petition was filed by telcos in September companies, asking the Supreme Court to re-calculate the dues.
2024: Vodafone launches its 180 billion rupee-share sale, planning to use the funds to expand its 4G network, set up 5G networks and pay taxes and dues.
It also issues shares worth 24.58 billion rupees to Nokia and Ericsson to raise capital.
Reporting by Varun Hebbalalu in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee
Aloqador aktivlar
Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
