Aircel

Hearing the Aircel-RCom spectrum dispute, SC said it is time for the Centre to evaluate whether the IBC is meeting its objectives, as arguments on spectrum ownership and insolvency reached a close

Reliance Communications, then owned by Anil Ambani, had to shut down its business operations as a result of its high debt burden and a failed merger with Aircel

Special Judge M K Nagpal passed the order after noting that there was sufficient evidence to summon Chidambaram and the other accused in the corruption and money-laundering cases lodged by CBI and ED

RBI panel recommends that ARCs be allowed to bid for bankrupt firms

Maxis gave Rs 12,000 cr guarantees to SBI

Justice Arun Mishra said: "We want to go into the cause for initiation of insolvency against telcos under the IBC."

The order is on the resolution plan for Aircel and its subsidiaries Dishnet Wireless and Aircel Cellular.

When contacted, the resolution professional refused to comment on the order

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed the telecom department's plea citing delay in appeal against the NCLT order which held that the spectrum and licence of debt-ridden Aircel cannot be taken away during the insolvency resolution period. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had appealed against an order of the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In its plea, the DoT raised the issue as whether licence/spectrum to run a telecom company could be subject to moratorium during the insolvency proceedings or not. However, a three-member bench of the NCLAT held that the petition filed by the DoT was time barred under the provisions of Section 61 of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Under the IBC, any appeal against order passed by the NCLT could be filed before the appellate tribunal within 30 days and the delay which can be condoned for reasonable cause in the NCLAT is only 15 days. "This appeal was presented on February 20,

The tribunal accepted the government's argument that licence or spectrum is a state asset over which Aircel had no right of ownership

"Cancellation of licence shall adversely affect the business," said a tribunal bench of MK Shrawat and Chandra Bhan Singh.

Aircel admitted itself to the NCLT in Feb 2018 even as all its directors resigned just before the bankruptcy filing

With over Rs 20,000 crore of bank debt, Aircel's dues are far greater than Jet Airways which sits on debt pile of RS 8,500 crore

The court issued the interim order after going through the affidavits filed by Aircel and Dishnet and the counter by the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, International Taxation

Aircel has a debt of nearly Rs 200 billion and attempts to restructure the loan did not come though, forcing the company to go to the NCLT in February

Sivasankaran allegedly took a loan of Rs 5.3 billion in February 2014. This swelled to Rs 6 billion after becoming NPA

Vodafone has said that around one million customers of Aircel have ported their number to Vodafone so far

Aircel has become the latest victim in the highly-competitive telecom market in the country with the operator along with its units Aircel Cellular and Dishnet Wireless filing for bankruptcy in the National Companies Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai after its lenders and shareholders failed to reach a consensus with respect to restructuring of its debt. Aircel, majority owned by Malaysia-based Maxis Communications, said it has been facing troubled times in a highly financially stressed industry, owing to intense competition following the disruptive entry of a new player, legal and regulatory challenges, high level of unsustainable debt and increased losses. With the entry of Reliance Jio in September 2016, most of the telecom operators have seen their profitability plunge to new lows. The market has now consolidated to 4 private players along with state-run BSNL and MTNL and soon there will be 3 as Vodafone and Idea Cellular are merging together. Intense competition and low tariffs have ...

The company saw porting requests going up to 800,000 on Thursday

Aircel's Twitter account, which has around 6,74,000 followers, was also filled with customer requests and complaints related to portability