Govt may have to rescue telcos' post SC order: Report

The Centre may have to intervene and provide relief to the financially weakened telecom service operators post the Supreme Court's verdict on Thursday ordering telecom carriers, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, to pay Rs 92,000 crore in dues, including penalties and interest, said a report by Emkay Global Financial Services .

The telecom sector has been reeling under deep financial stress over the past few years and experts feel the latest verdict would further weaken the incumbent operators' financial health.

"We believe that given the financial health of the telecom industry, which makes operators not capable of paying such hefty dues, the government will have to intervene to provide some relief which could be either an extended timeline for payment, waiving-off of certain penalty or interest or staggered payment," the report said.

"In addition, operators might have the option to appeal the order, while this is yet to be clarified," it added.

However, sources in the Department of Telecom (DoT) said that it would ask the telecom companies to comply with the Supreme Court order and pay the pending dues.

Telecom operators have asked for a minimum of six months to pay their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

The report further observed that Vodafone Idea (VIL) remains on a weak footing given the deteriorating financial health, continued subscriber losses and ongoing integration hurdles.

"Increased financial pain for VIL will continue to create optional value for Bharti and JIO in a potential duopoly market," it said.

The report noted that the verdict would increase the debt of the operators, and further raise in license fee and SUC (Sum Under Consideration) payout based on the DoT's formula of AGR.

Risk to Bharti Infratel's tenancies with VIL's rising financial stress would increase, it said, adding that it is "not clear whether Tata Tele's penalty (Rs 13,000 crore) will be borne by Bharti".

According to the DoT's calculation, Bharti Airtel owes around Rs 23,000 crore as licence fee and penalties -- a percentage of AGR -- to the government, Vodafone Idea owes Rs 19,823.71 crore, while Reliance Communications owes a total of Rs 16,456.47 crore. Reliance Communications has shut its operations and has since exited.IANS