Reliance Jio To Telecom Minister: Telcos Have Capacity To Pay Dues

Reliance Jio has finally opposed the bailout package for telecom operators. The company has written a letter to the Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, saying that telecom firms have enough funds to pays their dues. Besides Jio has slammed COAI for asking relief package from the government.

"We request the government to reject the COAI demand for financial relief on the Supreme Court judgement and their other outstanding liabilities including the spectrum payments etc and all operators should be mandated to deposit applicable amounts within the three months, as mandated by the Supreme Court," Jio said in a letter to Prasad. Gizbot has also seen a copy of the letter.

This development comes after COAI has urged the government to prioritize the AGR issue and provide relief measures to the industry within two months. However, the Mumbai-based telecom operator intimated that other sectors will start demanding to reprive. "It will not be out of context to mention that any such package which prima facie appears to mitigate perceived financial strains if granted, is likely to raise similar demands from other sectors such as aviation," the letter read.

The whole matter came into limelight when the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the government on the AGR issue. The SC has dismissed all the petitions made by telcos on that front and said that "There is no need for further legal procedures on the AGR issue." It is worth mentioning that the verdict ended a 14-year-old legal battle. But this also means that operators Rs. 92,000 crore to the government, where Airtel has to pay Rs. 21,682.13 crore, Vodafone will have to pay Rs. 19,823.71 crore and Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications will have to pay Rs 16,456.47 crore. On the other hand, DOT has already formed a committee to examine this matter.