Government helped Mukesh Ambani out of the way and allowed Reliance to use spectrum of Rel.Comm.Why RIL s beng allowed such cheating and why Nation is being made to suffer due to such Bankrupt Anil Ambani Rel.Comm.Why Mukesh Ambani despite of making full use of Rel Comm Spectrum is not being held liable to pay AGR dues of Rs.21000 Crores like others.ET Telecom news:- AGR liabilities rest with RCom: SSTL to SC Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) has told the Supreme Court that Anil Ambani’s insolvent telco Reliance Communications (RCom) is liable to pay its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues as the latter had acquired the former’s entire telecom business in October 2017. Himanshi LohchabETTelecomAugust 02, 2020, 22:46 IST

New Delhi: Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) has told the Supreme Court that Anil Ambani’s insolvent telco Reliance Communications (RCom) is liable to pay its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues as the latter had acquired the former’s entire telecom business in October 2017.

In an affidavit filed before the top court, SSTL said it has complied with the AGR judgement by paying Rs 72.90 lakh as per its own assessment of deficit AGR dues that were not covered under the merger scheme with RCom in 2017. SSTL said it paid the amount as several letters to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seeking clarification after the judgement did not elicit any response.

The DoT has identified the combined AGR liability of Rs 25,194.58 crore for Rcom and SSTL as on March 6, of which Rs 222.1 crore belongs to the Indo-Russian telecom JV, which merged into the Anil Ambani-owned carrier in 2017. In February 2019, RCom filed for insolvency.

Under the proceedings, the DoT has claimed nearly Rs 30,000 crore in dues from RCom, of which over Rs 21,000 crore has been verified by the resolution professional.

“I say that there is no wilful default on the part of SSTL to comply with this… court’s judgment to the extent it is applicable to SSTL,” the company said in an affidavit. ET has seen a copy of the affidavit.

The Supreme Court, in its June 20 hearing of the AGR case, had asked for bankruptcy related details of telcos such as Aircel, RCom, SSTL and Videocon within seven days, to ensure that they were not misusing the insolvency laws to evade AGR liability.

As per the merger scheme approved by the DoT on 31.10.2017, "all licences held by SSTL stood cancelled with immediate effect" and "simultaneously all the liabilities of SSTL in respect of licences in various LSAs stood transferred to the respective licences held by Reliance Communication Ltd.”

SSTL, a joint venture between Russia’s Sistema and India’s Shyam Group, which was providing telecom services under the brand name MTS had sold its entire telecom business including licences and spectrum in nine circles to RCom in October 2017, in exchange for a 10% stake in the Indian telco.

Back then, RCom acquired two million customers and 30MHz of 800/850 MHz band spectrum, ideally suited for 4G LTE services. The merger of SSTL extended the validity of RCom's spectrum portfolio in the 800 and 850 MHz band in eight circles by a period of 12 years — from 2021 to 2033 and enhanced spectrum value by Rs 7300 crore. But it also assumed the liability for SSTL’s spectrum amounting to Rs 390 crore per annum for the next eight years.

Next year, as Rcom’s financial health deteriorated, SSTL sold its 10% stake, marking the complete exit of the Russian telco from India.

Weighed by debt of some Rs 46,000 crore and mounting losses due to intense competition following Reliance Jio’s entry in 2016, RCom filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2019, having failed to sell its assets to repay lenders.

Source ET telecom.