The Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has asked the department of telecommunications (DoT) to adjust the excess Rs 755.52 crore received by it from Vodafone Idea, towards licence fee and spectrum usage charges. The excess amount to be adjusted by DoT pertains to the amount collected by it from the company at the time of the merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular in 2018.
This is a big relief for debt-laden Vodafone Idea, which has been also struggling to raise external funding for a long time now.
According to the TDSAT order, the initial demand notice of Rs 3,926.34 crore from DoT in July 2018 was for spectrum below 4.4 MHz against the differential between the entry-fee paid and market determined price.
“The approval was granted for merger of two companies…of Vodafone Mobile Services (VMSL) and M/s Vodafone India (VIL) with M/s Idea Cellular. The merger was approved subject to certain conditions and the total liability calculated by the respondent (government) was Rs 3,926.34 crore,” TDSAT said in its order. “The revised calculation now comes to Rs 3,170.82 crore,” TDSAT added.
The goverment has about 33% stake in Vodafone Idea. The company is yet to launch 5G services and is awaiting external fundraise to repay its vendor dues and invest on its network.