VI pays 50% of spectrum usage, licence charges; struggles to raise funds

Vodafone Idea (VI) has paid half of the license and spectrum usage charge (SUC) dues for the March quarter, The Economic Times (ET) has reported. Moreover, VI has assured the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that 90 per cent of the dues for the June quarter will be cleared in a phased manner along with the interest.

Government officials have said that if the telco honours its payment commitments, the DoT will not invoke the bank guarantees. However, in case of failure, the guarantees will be encashed, the DoT officials told ET. The DoT has not met any potential investor in the company so far, the officials added.

An official in the know told the newspaper, "They (VI) have written to us that significant progress has been made with several groups of investors but nothing specific has been informed by the company."

"Once the promoters infuse the Rs 2,000 crore into the company, there may be some movement on external funding," another government official was quoted as saying in the report.

As things stand, the government is the largest shareholder in the company at 33.1 per cent stake. However, it does not interfere in the day-to-day affairs of the company, the report said.

The government has allowed several extensions on statutory payments as VI has been paying interest for the delay. Also, as a part of the telecom reforms, the provisions for imposing penalties have been eliminated.

Vodafone Idea has found it difficult to raise funds in the past two years, which has hurt its ability to expand its 4G network and begin the 5G rollout. The lack of funds hurts the VI against competitors like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

VI CEO Akshaya Moondra had informed DoT that the company was close to arranging a Rs 4,000-crore short-term loan from the State Bank of India to pay for its pending statutory dues as well as spectrum instalment, the ET report added.

The company has requested a 30-day extension to make payment for the 2022 spectrum auction instalment. The due date was August 17 for an instalment of Rs 1,680 crore but the company has availed 30 days' extension with interest.

Earlier, the government had granted a four-year payment moratorium for past auctions. However, the 2022 sale was not part of the deal.

The payment moratorium ends in the third quarter of 2025-26. After this, VI has to dole out annual regulatory payments of more than Rs 40,000 crore, the ET report said.