Mint Quick Edit | What next for VI after the SC rebuff?
The Supreme Court has turned down petitions by telecom players seeking relief from their AGR dues to the government. Should the Centre rescue Vodafone Idea (VI) even if that means majority public ownership?
Vodafone Idea (Vi), Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices suffered a setback on Monday. India’s Supreme Court dismissed their petitions to waive the interest, penalty and interest-on-penalty on their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, calling them “misconceived."
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Curative petitions by telecom operators against the apex court’s 2019 judgement in the case had already been dismissed last year. This ends their last hope of relief, leaving the companies no option but to pay up.
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Not all of them are in a position to cough up such large sums. Vi had contended that it may be forced to fold up. The situation seems to place its fate in the hands of the government, which already owns 49% of Vi, having converted a part of its dues into equity.
Also Read: The survival of Vodafone Idea is in everyone's interest
If a similar option is exercised again, it would give the Centre majority ownership, which would sit awkwardly with the original argument made for the Centre to rescue it—that its closure would leave India’s telecom market with only two private players. But then, private management could conceivably be retained as an exceptional case to see if Vi can be turned around by the partners that have run it so far. After all, the 2019 AGR ruling was an unforeseen blow.
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