Vodafone Idea paid license fee dues for April-June quarter

Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Thursday said it has paid license fee dues for the first quarter of 2021-22, PTI reported.
Vi mobile network in India
The comment came amid a report that the troubled telco — which is struggling to stay afloat — fell Rs 150 crore short on payment of license fee for the June quarter.

“VIL has paid its license fee dues for first quarter 2021-22,” a VIL spokesperson said in response to an email query by PTI.

The statement did not give out further details. VIL is in the grip of an existential crisis, and the debt-ridden telco’s Q1 earnings and June quarter operational metrics announced on Saturday had left analysts disappointed.

The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of June 30, 2021, of Vi stood at Rs 191,590 crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1,06,010 crore and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability of Rs 62,180 crore that are due to the government.

Vi posted a consolidated loss of Rs 7,319 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021, against Rs 25,460 crore loss a year ago. The revenue from operations of Vodafone Idea declined by about 14 percent to Rs 9,152.3 crore during the quarter from Rs 10,659.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2020-21.

Last week, Vodafone Idea filed a review petition in the Supreme Court after the apex court dismissed its plea for rectification of the alleged errors in the calculation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues.