AGR: COAI urges govt to offer telcos 10-15 years for settlement of dues

Fifteen telecom companies owe the government Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges

Industry body COAI is pitching for a 10-15 year payment schedule for telecom companies to pay their past statutory dues, beginning with part-payment upfront and a two-year moratorium.

This formula of easier payment schedule to meet statutory obligations would offer the much-needed reprieve to telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, whose combined liabilities after the recent SC verdict run into billions of dollars, according to the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI).

COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said the industry requires a debt package for payment of past statutory dues with a two-year moratorium, as in the case of payment