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Bharti Airtel has made a payment of ₹1,950 crore to the Telecom Department towards its deferred spectrum dues, while Reliance Jio has paid ₹1,053 crore, sources said on Tuesday.
Deferred spectrum dues are essentially instalments that are paid by telcos for airwaves bought in past auctions and are separate from their AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) liabilities.
Vodafone Idea, too, paid about ₹3,043 crore towards deferred spectrum dues, according to the sources. VIL’s payment, in particular, assumes significance as the company has been under tremendous financial pressure and is confronted with AGR liabilities of over ₹53,000 crore.
Our Mumbai Bureau adds: Tata Group companies Tata Teleservices Ltd and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd have made an additional payment of ₹2,000 crore to the DoT.
The company said the payment is towards licence fees, spectrum usage charges and applicable interest, penalty and interest on penalty. “This on-account payment is subject to reconciliation after the conclusion of the process of computation and verification being conducted by the DoT, spanning a period beginning from FY2007 and spread across 20 circles,” the companies said in joint statement.
The payment of ₹2,000 crore is in addition to the ₹2,197 crore the firms paid on February 17 towards AGR, it added.
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