DoT moves to term Aircel dues as statutory

NEW DELHI: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has initiated an internal consultation process to classify dues arising on account of spectrum usage charges and licence fee payable by Aircel as statutory dues.

DoT is seeking legal advice for securing public money in the event of liquidation of the bankrupt telecom operator.

“We have started an internal consultation...we are still talking to our legal team whether these (operational debts) can be termed as ‘statutory dues’ as these are payable under the licence agreement under the (Indian Telegraph) Act,” one person aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.

“Once there is clarity on the issue, these dues could go up in the hierarchy of repayment structure when creditors are repaid under the insolvency process,” said the person quoted above.

Aircel owes ₹15,545 crore to financial creditors and about ₹35,000 crore to operational creditors. According to a 25 June report in The Economic Times, Aircel owes more than ₹6,000 crore to DoT. Mint could not independently verify the amount due to DoT. An email sent to DoT was unanswered till press time.

Meanwhile, DoT has also sent a notice to the insolvency resolution professional for Aircel, apart from other telcos, seeking special audit to check for underreporting of revenue.

“This is a routine exercise... especially after the CAG found that companies had under-reported revenue last year,” a senior DoT official said, requesting anonymity.

“We cannot arm twist companies into paying them, but we can still go ahead with our assessment and calculate dues,” said the official.

The audit could result in an increase in the amount of Aircel’s dues to the government.

The audit could result in an increase in the amount of Aircel’s dues to the government. Hammered by intense competition, Aircel’s woes multiplied with the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd in September 2016 with free calls and cheap data.