By Devina Sengupta
The group has formed a money recovery squad and got some subscribers and enterprise clients to pay up dues.
The group has formed a money recovery squad and got some subscribers and enterprise clients to pay up dues.
From the death throes of bankrupt cellular operator Aircel, has emerged a tale of fortitude and perseverance.
At a time when all its lenders and promoter Maxis of Malaysia have refused to bail out the beleaguered telco hurtling towards liquidation, a group of about 50 employees have refused to abandon ship, instead hunting down every possible option of raising money.
The group has formed a money recovery squad and got some subscribers and enterprise clients to pay up dues. They have also used industry contacts to reach out to peers who had to pay interconnect charges (IUC) to the operator.
The result: In two months, the team led by senior executives has managed to raise Rs 90 crore, almost at a par with the amount infused by Maxis – Rs 95 crore in early April.
MONEY IN THE DETAIL
“For more than two months, we have been going through the books almost every day to see if there are receivables to be recovered,” said a senior executive who is part of the money recovery squad.
Everybody’s trying to pitch in and save what’s left, but it’s not easy. “There have been instances when junior-most employees have travelled to get money from smaller enterprise clients,” said another team member. “The assets are deteriorating; thefts are taking place and we need to get more funds and ensure their safety.”
The Aircel team members ET spoke to did not want to be named but said resolution professional (RP) Deloitte was part of their meetings and former chief executive Kaizad Heerjee has also helped bring in some of the cash.
While the amount is far lower than what is required to revive operations — the telco is reeling under total debt of about Rs 50,000 crore — it’s just about enough to meet daily expenses, maintain some assets and hire top lawyers to fight some court battles to recover dues.
The employees’ initiative to revive their company comes after months of frustration, with the RP unable to generate funding to even pay salaries (April-June salaries are still unpaid), leave alone revive operations. However, with the money raised from employees’ efforts, July salaries were handed out this week, they said.
DIRE STRAITS
The company, against which insolvency proceedings began in March, is racing against the 180-day deadline — plus an additional 90 days — to raise funds to restart operations, generate revenue and sell assets or businesses to repay at least some of the Rs 19,000 crore owed to the banks. The RP’s appeal to lenders in June for a Rs 200-crore infusion to maintain the steadily deteriorating assets and restart operations was also rejected.
A Deloitte spokesperson said, “We are bound by confidentiality obligations and are unable to comment on client-specific matters.”
The group of 50, out of 2,500-3,000 employees, was formed at the end of April, brought together by the realisation that without funds, the company would be liquidated. There are about five at the helm and 15 on the next rung.
A team of senior executives was easet up to meet every week and update each other. The squad has employees from finance, supply chain, legal, enterprise, treasury and technical departments.
Monthly salary costs are about Rs 33 crore. “We scrounged for for residual bank balances, asked telcos to refund the IUC dues and used personal contacts who could put in a word for us and speed up the recovery,” said another team member. “We made a list of legal battles we could win, and decided to employ the best legal help from the money we have raised.”
For example, Aircel recently moved the Supreme Court seeking an order directing Bharti AirtelNSE -0.16 % to pay the `453 crore that it owes to the bankrupt carrier for buying 4G spectrum from it in 2016.
The Rs 90 crore raised by the employees has been so far used to pay for security and basic maintenance, besides running the corporate office in Delhi/NCR and network operating centre in Chennai.
“Everyday, coffee and electricity consumed are accounted for, and rarely has anyone left declined to help,” said one of the senior executives. “In fact, a team member studied and filed income tax returns for the company. We found there is money to be recovered there as well. Every penny counts.”
By Devina Sengupta
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