Engaged with govt after SC's AGR dues ruling: Vodafone Idea CEO Moondra

The statement comes after the SC dismissed petitions by Vi and Airtel seeking a waiver on paying interest, penalty, and interest on penalty components as part of their long-standing AGR dues

Days after the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed its plea seeking wavier on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, Vodafone Idea (Vi) CEO Akshaya Moondra on Monday said that the firm is engaged with the government to find a solution to the issue.

 

Addressing the investor call after the fourth quarter earnings, Moondra said, "As far as the government relief is concerned, I think we are engaged with the government... what the government will do, I cannot comment on their behalf. But definitely post the judgment, we continue with our engagement with the government to find a solution to the AGR matter."

 

 

The statement comes after the SC dismissed petitions by telecom giants Vodafone Idea and Airtel seeking a waiver on paying interest, penalty, and interest on penalty components as part of their long-standing AGR dues.

 

A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan termed the petitions “shocking” and “misconceived,” stating that the relief sought was not legally tenable. “These are writ petitions filed by multinational telecom companies invoking Article 32 of the Constitution. We firmly believe they are misconceived,” Justice Pardiwala said, as quoted by Mint. 

 

Referring to the Centre's 2021 reform package, Moondra noted that the apex court had, at the time, stated it was a policy matter within the government's purview.

 

"And that time, also the Supreme Court had, when their final order was given, they had stated to the effect that this is a policy matter which is within the purview of the government, and they would not interfere in it. So in some ways, if you look at the reforms package of September 2021, the government has taken the initiative, and I see no reason why the government should be constrained in any way to offer relief, which it decides to do," he claimed.

 

As a part of the 2021 package, the government had allowed financially stressed telcos to convert a part of their debt owed to the government into equity. 

 

Looming insolvency risk

 

Cash-strapped Vi had reported total deferred payment obligations of ₹1.97 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter (October–December) of FY25. Days before the SC ruling, Vi last month told the government that the company will not be able to operate beyond FY26 without its support. It added that given its mounting expenses and lack of support from banks, it might just have to file for insolvency with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

 

Vodafone Idea Q4 FY25 result

 

Last week, Vi reported a net loss of ₹7,166 crore, narrowing 6.62 per cent in the fourth quarter (January–March) of FY25 from ₹7,674 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, aided by lower expenses. On a sequential basis, however, the net loss widened by 8.42 per cent from ₹6,609 crore in the preceding quarter.

 

Meanwhile, the company's average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter increased to ₹164, up slightly from ₹163, ₹156, and ₹146 in the previous three quarters. The company attributed the growth to tariff hikes and an increase in higher-paying subscribers.

 

Talking about the same, Moondra said that India's ARPU is the lowest globally and the industry needs to move towards a pricing model, where heavy data users contribute more proportionally to their higher usage, than the current pricing structure.  The telecom giant's board also approved the raising of ₹20,000 crore through a follow-on public offer (FPO), private placement including qualified institutional placement (QIP), or any other permissible mode.

 

Subscriber trends

 

Vi’s 4G subscriber base grew for the eleventh consecutive quarter, reaching 126.4 million, up from 125.6 million, 124.7 million, and 122.6 million in the previous quarters. Despite this steady growth in 4G users, the company continued to lose overall subscribers to larger competitors Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, closing Q4 with 198.2 million total users after a net loss of 1.6 million—an improvement compared to the 5.2 million users lost in Q3.