Vodafone Might Stop Its Operation In India Following Huge Loss: Report

India's biggest telecom player Vodafone is likely to shut down and stop its operation from India, reports IANS. According to the report, there is a buzz in the telecom sector that Vodafone is planning to leave India any day now, due to operating losses in the joint-venture company Vodafone-Idea.

Besides, the company is losing millions of customers every month. Lastly, decreasing market capitalization could be another reason for this decision. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea has announced that the merger of Indus towers with Bharti Infratel is not possible, due to Foreign Direct Investment regulations.

On the other hand, Vodafone has denied and dismissed a news report, which says that it has approached its lenders for debt recast. "We have not made any request for debt recast to any lender or asked for the reworking of payment terms. We continue to pay all our debts as and when these fall due," Vodafone Idea said in a statement.

Adding to that, "There has been reportage in some media alleging that Vodafone Idea has approached its lenders for debt recast. We categorically deny and dismiss this as baseless and factually incorrect."

Supreme Court Judgement On AGR

The problem surged after the Supreme Court ordered against Airtel, Vodafone, and Reliance Communication on AGR, under which Vodafone has to pay Rs. 28,309 crore to the government in three months. In fact, Vodafone has clarified that this judgment has financial implications, and they are reviewing it.

The statement further goes on to say that the company will engage with the Department of Telecom (DOT). For the unaware, Vodafone Idea has been losing customers, ever since they have announced their merger in 2017. In addition, free calls and cheap data by Reliance Jio forced the operator to introduce new tariff plans on a daily basis.