There’s a new buzz around the telecom sector in India that the British telecommunications giant is all ready to “pack up and leave” the country suffering major losses in operations, losing subscribers, losing capital, and unable to find fresh fundings.
The heavy Rs. Rs 53,000 crore payment to be paid within three months to the Indian Government after the recent Supreme Court verdict that determined the firm owes the money in terms of outstanding taxes, penalties, and interest.
Earlier in a press statement the company said “The company is studying the judgement and we will evaluate our next steps … We will engage with the DoT in order for it to consider granting relief, including a waiver on interest and penalties”.
Vodafone has denied all media reports related to the companies approach to lenders for debt recast in a press release published on Wednesday says that “There has been reportage in some media alleging that Vodafone Idea has approached its lenders for debt recast. We categorically deny and dismiss this as baseless and factually incorrect. We have not made any request for debt recast to any lender or asked for reworking of payment terms. We continue to pay all our debts as and when these fall due”.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is taking initatives to give comfort to the telecom operators in the country after regular complaints related to twisted costs and dropping revenues. According to some reports government is planning to induce a new fixed tariff for data and voice calls to help mitigate some of the challenges facing the industry.
