The government has again directed telecom operators to make full payments towards their respective statutory dues. The government has so far received part payment of about Rs 259 billion from the telcos.
In this regard, the government had written to all operators on March 4, 2020.
Up until now, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices has paid Rs 180.04 billion, Rs 35 billion and Rs 41.97 billion, respectively. Meanwhile, Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio have paid Rs 39 million and Rs 1.95 billion, respectively.
On a separate note, the government has informed the parliament that it has no proposal under consideration to set up new anti-trust laws to prevent monopolisation and/or cartelisation in the telecom sector.
Further, in an effort to mitigate the financial stress in the sector, the government has offered a moratorium to the telcos to defer payment of the spectrum auction installments dues for 2020-21 and 2021-22, either for one or both years.
