At a time when the government has offered a four-year moratorium for spectrum payments, Reliance Jio has prepaid the entire amount relating to the 2016 auction to the government.
According to sources in the department of telecommunications (DoT), Reliance Jio cleared the dues, amounting to about Rs 10,700 crore, earlier this month. So far, the company was paying annual instalments.
Jio is also paying annual instalments for spectrum bought in the 2014 and 2015 auctions. So far, the company has not decided whether it will opt for the four-year moratorium for spectrum payments. The annual outgo for Jio for the deferred payments of 2014 and 2015 auctions could be Rs 2,500-3,000 crore, the sources said.
Jio also bought spectrum worth Rs 57,122 crore in the auction this year, but there is a two-year moratorium on the balance payments in 16 annual instalments. That is why the 2021 spectrum payments are not included in the recently announced four-year moratorium offer.
Bharti Airtel has already informed the DoT of its acceptance of the four-year moratorium for payment of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and spectrum dues. Last week, Vodafone Idea too accepted the four-year moratorium for payment of its spectrum dues. It had said its board will decide on accepting the moratorium for the AGR dues by Friday, the deadline set by the government.
After Friday, operators have been given 90 days to confirm if they will opt to pay the interest which accrues as a result of the deferral by offering equity to the government.
The moratorium was part of the government’s revival package for the telecom sector, which offered a combination of cash flow relief for the financially stressed operators and long-term measures like redefinition of AGR and scrapping of spectrum usage charge in future auctions.