Jio and Airtel shared spectrum with bankrupt telecom companies
The Supreme Court has exempted Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio from paying around 40,000 crores of past dues for using spectrum of other telecom companies who are bankrupt. Notably, Jio uses spectrum of Anil Ambani’s cash strapped Reliance Communications (RCom) while Airtel avails spectrum owned by Videocon and Aircel.
“Shared operator telecom companies cannot be saddled with liability of past AGR dues,” the court in its detailed judgement on the payment of the dues.
The exemption however deals specifically with the shared spectrum used by companies and does not include their original dues.
The top court on Tuesday gave telecom companies 10 years to clear huge dues owed to the government, called adjusted gross revenue (AGR), amounting to about Rs 1.6 lakh crore, in staggered payments. A three-judge bench of the top court said telecom companies must pay 10 per cent of the dues by March 31 next year.
The court also said the issue of sale of spectrum by telecom companies facing insolvency proceedings will be decided by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
