Mukul Rohatgi, the senior counsel for Vodafone Idea said that if Vodafone Idea pays all its pending dues to the Govt overnight then it will have to close operations in India.
On Monday, the telecom operator paid Rs 2,500 crore as part of its AGR dues requested the Apex Court that the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) shouldn’t take any forcible action & call forth any bank guarantees as it would further hinder its operations.
If the telecom operator shuts shop in India, the move would render 10,000 people jobless & trouble 30 crore subscribers, Rohatgi told NDTV.
He also said that it would impact the whole telecom sector, eventually wiping out competition & leaving just two firms in the market. Rohatgi further said Vodafone Idea owe the Govt Rs 7,000 crore, & after adding the interest, penalty & interest on penalty the total amount would be between Rs 23,000 to Rs 25,000 crore.
He added, “the Govt should not rock the boat by encashing the bank guarantees, or the company should close tomorrow (Tuesday)”.
The Supreme Court’s direction to the telecom companies to pay up all their unpaid dues to the Govt has hastened the crisis for the loss-making firms.
He further said that “The companies have been telling the Department of Telecommunication that there is no way they can pay these dues overnight. & the Govt should also wake up to the situation, otherwise, this sector which is very, very stressed, will have only two operators, which is like semi-monopoly, which is what we call oligopoly”.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel and Tata Group also made part payment of their dues Rs 10,000 crore & around Rs 2,197 crore, respectively, on Monday. While Bharti Airtel has to pay nearly Rs 25,586 crore more to the Govt, Tata Teleservices still owes Rs 13,800 crore to the Govt. The Top Court has set the deadline for all the payments on March 17.
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