“We have raised the demands. Now the ball is in their court,” telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan told reporters on Wednesday when asked whether the companies have indicated they will pay or challenge the demands in court.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) asked Vodafone and Idea on Monday to clear ₹7,268 crore on account of one-time spectrum charges and spectrum liberalisation fees before approving the largest M&A deal in the sector.
The telecom secretary said an early closure of the deal would be in the best interests of the industry<\/a>, which has been sagging under debt of more than ₹7 lakh crore, aggravated by high spectrum prices and low call and data charges, resulting in an erosion of earnings and spurring consolidation.
“We would like to see the merger completed at the earliest because we do want the sector to stabilise and this is an important step in that direction,” the secretary said. She added that the Vodafone Group, in meetings with the DoT, said it is committed to continue investing in India after the merger.
Telecom minister Manoj Sinha<\/a> reiterated earlier in the day that the two companies have to comply with the formalities.
“Merger is already approved. There are formalities that both Vodafone and Idea have to complete now,” Sinha said, adding that designated and outgoing executives have thanked him for the department’s swift process.
The minister met Vodafone Group’s chief executive officer-designate Nick Read along with outgoing executive Vittorio Colao<\/a> and Vodafone India managing director Sunil Sood on Tuesday.
Separately, Idea said the DoT’s approval for the merger was a “conditional” one.
“Approval of the DoT was a condition precedent to the completion of merger. The current approval of DoT is conditional and not the final approval,” the Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned telco said in a regulatory statement on Wednesday in response to a BSE query on the matter.
The merger, once approved, will create an entity that will displace Bharti Airtel<\/a> from the No. 1 spot after over 16 years. Idea Cellular shares fell 2.8% to ₹54.15 at the close on the BSE on Wednesday.
The ministry has asked Idea to provide a bank guarantee of ₹3,342 crore towards one-time spectrum charges and Vodafone to pay ₹3,926 crore in cash to cover the market price for non-auctioned airwaves. Among other conditions, Idea needs to replace Vodafone’s bank guarantees worth ₹6,452 crore held by DoT with its own. This is on account of spectrum payments that fall due over the next one year.
Idea will have to pledge that it will pay Vodafone India’s one-time spectrum charges — presently stayed in the telecom tribunal — if and when such a decision is reached. All other dues, including those that may arise from other pending cases around spectrum usage charges and licence fees and penalties will need to be paid by the merged entity, which will remain listed.
The combined entity, named Vodafone Idea Ltd., is expected to be better placed to take on competition from Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel. On their own, Idea and Vodafone have struggled to take on Jio and Airtel, widening their losses and losing revenue and subscriber market share.
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