DoT dismisses Vodafone Idea's licence fee demand of ₹3,273 crorefor FY16 and FY17

livemint.com:

₹3,273 crore, the company informed the exchanges. Vodafone Idea said DoT has in a communication on October 4 disposed-off the company's representation and objections in respect of license fee demand of ₹1,749 crore and ₹1,524 crore, respectively (including interest till 31.03.2023) for FY2015-16 and FY2016-17.

Follow our Markets coverage “The company has in the past written to the DoT to correct the errors in demands up to FY 2016-17 which DoT has not acted upon so far," the statement added. It also noted that in the event it is permissible for DoT to modify the demands for the period covered by the Supreme Court judgment, then “there are various errors which need to be corrected and which would reduce the demand crystallised by the SC".

Follow over coverage of the RBI MPC meet here “A review petition was filed by the company seeking directions from the SC to carry out correction of these errors and the same continues to be pending.," the release added. In 2021, the Department of Telecom (DoT) had issued a show-cause notice to VIL over non-payment of licence fee for the fourth quarter of FY2020-21 with regard to circles of Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (East), Odisha, as well as national long distance.

As per the notice, DoT directed VIL to show cause by April 12, 2021 why action should not be taken against the company under relevant clauses of the licence agreement. "Failure to perform any obligation(s) under the licence including timely payment of licence fee and other charges due to licensor is breach of licence agreement as per the terms and conditions of the licence agreement," DoT had said in the notice.