Govt Owes RCom Rs 104 Crore After SC Rejects Plea Challenging TDSAT’s Order

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected the Central Government's plea challenging TDSAT's (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) order directing refund of Rs 104.34 crore to Reliance Communication (RCom).

The bench of R F Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat said, "We don't find any merits in the appeal," according to a PTI report.

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On 21 December 2018, TDSAT had directed the Centre to return around Rs 104 crore after encashing bank guarantee of Rs 908 crore against spectrum charges of Rs 774 crore, for the 2013 and 2015 spectrum auctions. The payment was scheduled to be made over a period of 18 years.

The Department of Telecom has already adjusted Rs 30.33 crore.

The Centre challenged the tribunal's order.

Reliance Communications, the then telecom arm of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, entered insolvency in 2019.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, UV Asset Reconstruction Co and private equity firm Varde Partners have bid to purchase either part or all the assets of RCom and its two units- Reliance Telecom Infrastructure and Reliance Infratel.

The company, that is currently undergoing corporate insolvency resolution process under the supervision of the Mumbai-bench of National Company Law Tribunal, said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday that its committee of creditors (CoC) will hold a meeting on Wednesday.

"We wish to inform you that the 16th meeting of committee of creditors of Reliance Communications (RCom) is scheduled to be convened on Wednesday, January 8, 2020," it said.