CCEA approves 2 year moratorium on spectrum dues

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the deferral of receipt of spectrum auction dues from telecom companies for two years — 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 — in view of their financial stress.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that as per the recommendations of the panel of secretaries, the deferral amounts will now be equally spread over the remaining instalments to be paid by telecom service providers (TSPs) without any increase in the existing time period specified for making the payments.

The move to defer payments for 2020-21 and 2021-22 will give Rs 42,000 crore relief to Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio.