Mumbai sources reported that the telecom department has moved the Supreme Court for approval to secure dues worth almost Rs 33,000 crore from all operators toward license fees and spectrum usage charges, saying existing bank guarantees aren’t enough to cover the “huge public money” at stake. Meanwhile Telco’s fear such a step would impose a higher financial burden on them.
Accordingly the Department of Telecommunications filed two separate but identical petitions on September 13, claiming that fresh bank guarantees for Rs 28.70 crore and Rs 32,655.58 crore are needed from the operators and pleading with the court to ensure that the “government’s interests are secured”. DoT said in the petitions that “A decision favoring DoT would mean additional financial stress on operators already reeling under heavy debt amid eroding revenue and profitability.
A senior industry executive who did not want to be identified “This will
add to the financial burden of the operators if the court decides that more bank
guarantees are needed”. Moreover RCom, Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Tata Tele services and Aircel did not
immediately respond to queries emailed by ET. DoT has been fighting to recover
SUC dues and license fees for a while, with some Rs 78,000 crore stuck in
litigation in a sector burdened with over Rs 7 lakh crore of debt.
