Debt-laden Vodafone Idea on Tuesday paid Rs 3,042.80 crore as spectrum dues to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for the airwaves it bought in 2014. The payment has come at a time when the company is on the brink of bankruptcy as it struggles to clear Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues.
As per the stated report in a newspaper telco will be paying its spectrum dues today -which are also the deadline for the payments. Shares of Vodafone Idea were down by 0.58% at Rs 3.43 in the afternoon trading hours on the BSE on Tuesday.
This payment is important because defaulting would make the company vulnerable since it cannot risk getting its bank guarantees invoked by DoT.
The telcos have made this last lot of payments towards deferred spectrum liabilities, as the Union Cabinet, last year, approved a two year's moratorium on such spectrum dues.
Meanwhile, rival Bharti Airtel has paid total dues of Rs 18,004 crore to the DoT. However, as per DoT estimates, Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company owes Rs 35,586 crore to the telecom department. Last month, Bharti Airtel had paid Rs 8,004 crore towards AGR to the government.
With this, the telecom firm has paid Rs 18,004 crore to the government in compliance with the Supreme Court judgement, the company had said in a statement.
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