No decision on relief to telcos at DCC meet

New Delhi: The crucial meeting of Digital Communications Commission (DCC) on Friday could not arrive at a decision on relief to the distressed telecom sector as government officials said more details are required for reconciliation of data on statutory dues.

In a day of hectic parleys at DoT, Vodafone Idea (VIL) CEO and MD Ravinder Takkar also met Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash but refused to comment on the details of his discussion. Telecom companies have been desparately waiting for a bailout package from the government after a Supreme Court order put their statutory liabilities at Rs 1.47 lakh crore, and all eyes were on the DCC meet for the much-needed breather to fix the AGR imbroglio.

In fact, just days ahead of the Friday meeting of DCC, Vodafone Idea - which is the most vulnerable of the lot - told the government that it would not be able to pay the Supreme Court mandated Rs 53,000 crore dues unless state support is extended to survive the crisis.

VIL had made a strong plea for setting off Rs 8,000 crore of GST credits, a three-year moratorium on payment of the remaining amount which should be staggered over 15 years at a simple interest rate of 6 per cent, drastic cut in licence fee and fixing of a minimum price of calls and data.

While telecom department officials insisted that DCC meeting on Friday did not focus on AGR issues but rather on project implementation for PPP on Bharat Net project, a source present at the meeting said no decision on telecom relief was taken at the meeting although discussion did take place.

DCC, the highest decision-making body of the government on telecom, discussed the issue and looked at options at the meeting which lasted two hours. Further discussions are needed, and the DCC is likely to meet again in the coming days but no date has been fixed for the next meeting, they said.

The telecom department is awaiting more details required for reconciliation of AGR data, sources added. "A lot of discussion would be needed, AGR related data needs to be assessed," the source said.

The DCC includes CEO of NITI Aayog, and secretaries of Ministries of Electronics and IT, DoT, Department of Economic Affairs, and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, besides other senior officials of the telecom department. VIL, which had last week paid Rs 3,500 crore to the government - still only seven per cent of its total dues - in a recent letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said it is "not in a sound financial state" to settle the liability and sought "urgent support from the government".