Vodafone may leave India |
India`s second-largest telecom company, Vodafone-Idea, may be headed for liquidation unless the government eases off on demands for mobile spectrum fees. At a press round-table in London, Nick Read, the chief executive officer of Vodafone said the company`s future in India could be in doubt unless the government stopped hitting operators with higher taxes and charges after the Supreme Court of India asked operators to pay over Rs 92,000 crore in past dues. Read said India, where Vodafone formed a joint venture with Aditya Birla group`s Idea Cellular in 2018, had been “a very challenging situation for a long time”, but Vodafone Idea still had 30 crore customers or about 30% market share. Vodafone has asked the government for a relief package comprising a two-year moratorium on spectrum payments, lower license fees, and taxes and the waiving of interest and penalties in the Supreme Court case, which centered on regulatory fees. It is also calling for the spectrum payments to be spread over 10 years. The arrival of new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm in 2016 plunged the industry into a brutal price war. On Tuesday, Read said Vodafone was not committing any more equity to India and the country effectively contributed zero value to the company`s share price.
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