Vodafone Idea (Vi) has been issued a show-cause notice by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for not paying the license fee for Q4 FY21. Vi’s last date for paying the license fee was March 25, 2021. As per a BusinessLine report, the telco has missed out on paying the license fee for seven circles in India, including Gujarat, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh East. DoT’s letter to Vi mentioned that the telco had not paid the fee for national long distance licenses.
Show Cause Notice to Vi for April 12, 2021
DoT has issued a show-cause notice to Vi for appearing at the court on April 12, 2021. The telco will be given a chance to explain why any action should not be taken against it. If Vi is unable to communicate the reasons for why it couldn’t pay the dues, an action will be taken against it. As per the Unified License Agreement, operators are required to pay the licensee fee in a quarterly manner, meaning four times a financial year. Every licensee must pay the entire dues for the last quarter by March 25. During the last quarter of FY20, Vi had paid Rs 1,367 crores in spectrum usage charges (SuC) and license fee, while in the first quarter of FY21, the telco paid Rs 1,200 crores for the same. An official statement from Vi is yet to come on the matter. The telco has been going through a loss for several consecutive quarters now. Vi might cite reasons such as poor financials or huge debt and interest payments for not being able to pay the mandatory dues. The show-cause notice has asked Vi to appear in the court on April 12, 2021, which is just 2 days away from now. The investors of the company will be looking forward to the answers present by Vi for the missed payments.
