Q1 licence fee dues have been paid: VIL
E comment came id a report that the o fell ₹150 crore rt on payment of for the June qtr
Vodafone Idea Ltd ) on Thursday said it has licence fee dues for the first ter of 2021-22. e comment came amid a rt that the troubled telco— ch is struggling to stay t—fell ₹150 crore short on ment of licence fee for the quarter.
IL has paid its licence fee for first quarter 2021-22,” a spokesperson said in onse to an email query by comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of ₹1,06,010 crore and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability of ₹62,180 crore that are due to the government.
VIL posted a lower consolidated loss of ₹7,319 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021, against a ₹25,460 crore loss a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations of Vodafone Idea declined by about 14% to ₹9,152.3 crore during the reported quarter from ₹10,659.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2020-21.
Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla recently stepped down as chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd, within two months of offering to hand over Aditya Birla Group’s stake in the telco to the government in a bid to avert a crisis for the firm.
He will be replaced by Himanshu Kapania (who was earlier managing director and
CEO of Birla’s Idea Cellular) as the new chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd.
Birla had, in June this year, offered to hand over the group’s stake in debt-laden Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) to the government or any other entity that the government may consider worthy, to ensure that the company remains a going concern.
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on June 7, Birla had said investors are not willing to invest in the company in the absence of clarity on AGR (statutory dues) liability, adequate moratorium on spectrum payments and “most importantly floor pricing regime above the cost of service”.
Without immediate active support from the government on the three issues by July, the financial situation of VIL will come to an “irretrievable point of collapse”, Birla had said.
Last week, Vodafone Idea filed a review petition in the Supreme Court after the apex court dismissed its plea for rectification of the alleged errors in the calculation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues.
In its review petition, VIL has said it is “a travesty of justice” that the company is restrained from questioning the arithmetical errors/omissions which are going to cost it about ₹25,000 crore (₹5,932 crore of principal plus interest, penalty and interest on penalty).
According to official data, VIL had an AGR liability of Rs 58,254 crore out of which the company has paid ₹7,854.37 crore and ₹50,399.63 crore is outstanding.
Vodafone Idea petition has said its contentions have been rejected by the order under review and added that this denial could result in the company going under and its about 27.3 crore subscribers being left
“high and dry”.
Other fallouts include loss of investment in the business and an impact on livelihoods of employees, as well as distributor, retailers, and store staff, the company said in the petition.
During an earnings call earlier this week, Vodafone Idea CEO Ravinder Takkar said the company is hopeful that the government will offer necessary support to address structural issues in the sector and had emphasised that floor pricing, even in an interim manner, could help.
Takkar, in his communication, has urged employees to continue to remain focused on providing quality services to customers, sustain intensity in the market to win and deliver on goals. He also communicated the top-level changes, to the employees, sources said.
An e-mail sent to Vodafone Idea (VIL) on the issue, did not elicit a response.
Meanwhile, the Uk-based Vodafone declined to comment on a report that suggested it is ready to offer its VIL stake for free to Indian banks, financial institutions or to the stateowned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), provided they take over the mobile telephony firm.
In September 2020, VIL had received an approval from its board to raise up to ₹25,000 crore.