The Silicon Review ^Asia

Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister of India, made an announcement on Wednesday that the government has decided to give telecom companies a 2-years moratorium to pay their spectrum dues. The FM also stated that the committee of secretaries thoroughly checked for issues in the telecom sector and ultimately decided to provide the receipt of the spectrum auction installment for telecom service providers (TSPs). The financial stress faced by the telecom service providers was, and it was a significant factor in deferring receipt of spectrum auction installment due for the years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

Indian carriers owe the government almost Rs 1.47 lakh crore to the government in licensing fee and spectrum usage charges. Of the total amount spectrum usage charges come up to Rs 55,054 and the licensing fee comes up to Rs 92, 642 crores. Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel account for the majority of the emanated liabilities. The Supreme Court upheld its definition of Adjusted Gross and Gross revenue, as stated in the agreement. Previously the telcos were given just three months to clear their dues and report the compliance. The new move from the FM will be beneficial to incumbents like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea because they reported a loss of Rs 74,000 crore.