The Delhi High Court has directed Idea Cellular to ask the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) whether it can transfer the six telecoms licences it gained from its acquisition of Spice.
The company has also been asked to pay Rs 10 million for suppressing information pertaining to its deal with Spice.
Meanwhile, Idea Cellular plans to appeal against the order. In a statement, the company said, “Idea stands upright, has not suppressed anything at all, let alone willfully, and will appeal for what it believes is right.?
In 2008, Idea purchased controlling stake in Spice in a three-way deal that also gave Malaysia’s Axiata about a fifth of Idea Cellular. In April 2011, the company said it had unconditionally offered to surrender the overlapping licences to comply with existing rules, as both Idea Cellular and Spice held separate licences for the same operating zones.
Under Indian rules, no firm is allowed to own 10 per cent or more in two competing companies operating in a zone.
