Vodafone-Idea to shut down in India if not provided with relief by Government

Guwahati, December 6, 2019:

India's third-largest mobile service provider Vodafone Idea Ltd will shut down if the government does not provide relief on the liability it faces in past statutory dues, following a Supreme Court order.

This was announced by the company's chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Friday.

Reportedly, Kumar Mangalam Birla said if the company is not getting anything, then it will be the "end of the story" for Vodafone-Idea in India.

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Birla's Idea Cellular and British telecom giant Vodafone plc's India unit merged in 2018 to compete with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio that served free voice calling and dirt cheap data to the users.

In the process, the merged group accumulated a sum of Rs 1.17 lakh crore debt.

Market leader Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom players have to pay as much as Rs 1.47 lakh crore in payment of telecom license fee and spectrum usage charge, together with interest and penalty for past 14 years.

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