New Delhi: The much-awaited telecom relief package may bring about a moratorium of around four years on the payment of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
The moratorium may also be applicable on spectrum payments, sources said.
The measures, if implemented, would be most beneficial for debt-ridden Vodafone Idea, which is struggling to continue as a going concern.
The government has been in talks with several stakeholders, including banks, for a package for the sector. There is a concern concerns of a possible duopoly in the Indian telecom sector if Vodafone Idea shuts. It is also the most impacted telco due to the AGR claims of the government.
People in the know said that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has proposed the measures in the Telecom relief package. Reduction in Spectrum usage charge (SUC) is possible. This is a long standing demand of the telecom services providers.
Another likely measure includes a reduction in bank guarantees. With this a change in the definition of AGR may exclude non-telecom items from its coverage, in a prospective manner.
Union Cabinet was expected to pass some of the relief measures. However, no measure is passed yet.
The government wants that competition must prevail in the sector and any chances of a duopoly should be averted.
Last week, Vodafone Idea’s former Chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla met Union Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
On September 1, Birla and Vaishnaw discussed the health of the sector. They felt the urgent need for government intervention.
On August 4, the board of Vodafone Idea accepted the request of Birla to step down as the Non-Executive Director and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board.
Days earlier, it became public that he had written to the government that he is willing to hand over his stake in the debt-ridden company to government entities in a bid to keep the company operational.
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on June 7, Birla said that, with a “sense of duty” towards 27 crore Indians connected with Vodafone Idea, he is willing to hand over his stake to public Sector Unit (PSU), a government entity or any domestic financial entity, or any other entity that the government may consider worthy of keeping the company as a going concern.
In the letter, Birla sought clarity on adjusted gross revenue (AGR), adequate moratorium on spectrum dues and floor pricing, adding that without immediate and active government support, VIL’s operations will be at an “irretrievable point of collapse”.
