Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (VIL) has approached the Department of Telecom (DoT) to request a waiver for a financial bank guarantee (FBG) of Rs 24,747 crore, which is due for spectrum payment in September 2025, according to a news report from Moneycontrol. VIL is required to securitize the annual installment a year before the payment date.
An anonymous source told PTI that Vodafone Idea has requested the waiver for the FBG, which must be deposited one year before the due date per spectrum auction rules. Vodafone Idea did not respond to an email query.
These payments are for frequencies VIL purchased in auctions held before 2022. In 2022, VIL opted for a four-year moratorium on spectrum payments as part of a government relief package. The moratorium period for spectrum payment obligations related to auctions conducted until 2016 ends between October 2025 and September 2026. The company also opted for a moratorium on AGR payments, which ends in March 2026. VIL must provide bank guarantees at least 13 months before the relevant moratorium period expires.
VIL has cited relief based on the spectrum auction rules of 2022 and 2024, which removed the requirement for providing bank guarantees for annual installments. As of March 31, 2024, VIL had outstanding dues of Rs 2,03,430 crore to the government, including deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1,33,110 crore and AGR liability of Rs 70,320 crore.
When opting for the moratorium, VIL cleared about Rs 16,000 crore of interest obligations on the deferred payment by offering equity in the company to the government. The government’s shareholding in VIL decreased from about 33% in 2023 to 23.8% as of March 31, 2024, after the company raised Rs 18,000 crore through a follow-on public offer, Rs 7,000 crore between March 2022 and May 2024 from promoters, and issued preferential shares to vendors to clear their dues.
