Vi pays up licence fee dues for Q1

MUMBAI: Vodafone Idea Ltd on Thursday paid its entire licence fee dues for the quarter ended June 30, offering hope to investors that the company may yet avoid a collapse if the government comes out with a rescue package for the struggling industry.

While the company did not specify the amount, a spokesperson for the company said that the telecom operator has paid the entire outstanding dues for the quarter.

While the amount is likely minuscule when compared to its total dues of ₹22,500 crore that it needs to settle between December and April to repay a mix of regular debt to lenders, AGR (adjusted gross revenue) and spectrum dues, analysts said that the development does add to its survival hopes.

Vodafone Idea has a total liability of ₹1.92 lakh crore. Out of this, it owes ₹58,000 crore to the government as AGR dues. The rest of the amount includes spectrum-related dues and bank loans.

In August, Kumar Mangalam Birla stepped down as the chairman of Vodafone Idea, a post he had held since Idea Cellular‘s merger with Vodafone India in 2018.

Birla’s stepping down was widely viewed as an attempt to distance himself from the company.

In a letter to the cabinet secretary in June, Birla offered to hand over Aditya Birla group’s stake in the telco to the government or a government-approved entity, citing the company’s dire financial situation, which he warned made the company’s collapse imminent in the absence of a bailout.

In July, the Supreme Court dismissed the telecom operator’s plea to allow payment of self-assessed (adjusted gross revenue) dues that are way lower than that demanded by the telecom department.

With the judgement going against it, the company’s fundraising plans came to a grinding halt.