Govt relief for telcos, tariff hikes may not offset impact of SC ruling: Fitch

Fitch Ratings on Friday said the two-year moratorium on payment of spectrum dues for telecom companies and hike in tariffs are unlikely to be sufficient to offset the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on past statutory dues on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea.

The Supreme Court on October 24 ruled against the telcos in a 14-year-old dispute on the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) which forms the basis for payment of statutory dues. The court ruled that non-telecom revenues should be included in AGR for payment of licence fee and spectrum usage charge.

"The decision by all three private Indian telecommunication companies to raise tariffs from December 2019 and a two-year moratorium on payment of spectrum dues (announced by the government this week) are positive for the industry," Fitch said.

"However, these are unlikely to be sufficient to offset the impact of a recent Supreme Court judgement for incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd."