Vodafone Idea’s relief hopes fade as DoT puts spectrum surrender on hold

Vodafone Idea after the recent government decision not to waive interest and penalties related to adjusted gross revenue dues.

The development came amid demands by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio that the government have a clause for refund of the money that they have fully paid up for the spectrum bought before 2022 but could have now surrendered, said officials aware of the matter.

Vodafone Idea was hoping to immediately surrender some spectrum bought before 2022 and use it partly to pay for bank guarantees in the near future. Surrender of excess airwaves could have reduced the telco's government obligations by ₹30,000-₹40,000 crore, depending on the quantum of spectrum returned. Officials said the move to allow surrender of spectrum would have involved a complicated process to change the rules of auctions conducted before 2022, which was also a deterrent.

«The conditions of notice inviting applications (NIA) would have to be changed for spectrum surrender. That, too, could have been considered, but then having the provisions for refund and adjustment against other levies would have been legally difficult,» said one of the officials, who did not wish to be identified.

Another official said the companies were informed that the plan to surrender spectrum could only be considered if it was legally tenable. Queries sent to Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio remained unanswered till press time.

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ET had reported earlier this month that Jio and Bharti Airtel had asked the DoT to create a level playing field