Bharti Airtel informed exchanges that the court has set aside a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) demand that was originally raised at ₹5,201.2 crore in 2013 and subsequently revised to ₹8,414 crore in 2018.
The amount included a demand of ₹473.7 crore related to its subsidiary, Bharti Hexacom, for the Rajasthan and North East service areas.
The company said the Bombay High Court, through its June 8 judgment, allowed its petition and quashed the impugned demand notice issued by the DoT.
Vodafone Idea, meanwhile, said the court has quashed OTSC demands aggregating to ₹2,113 crore relating to erstwhile Idea Cellular and Spice Communications, which later merged into the company. The court also directed the government to return the bank guarantees furnished by the company in connection with the disputed levy.
The litigation dates back to 2013, when telecom operators challenged the government’s decision to impose a one-time spectrum charge on spectrum holdings beyond specified limits. Vodafone Idea noted that the DoT had subsequently revised certain demands to ₹3,322 crore while approving merger-related transactions in 2018 and sought bank guarantees to secure the claims.
In its ruling, the Bombay High Court held that the government had failed to establish a legal or contractual basis for imposing the levy retrospectively. The court observed that telecom operators had already acquired spectrum under the revenue-sharing regime prescribed by the National Telecom Policy, 1999, and that introducing an additional financial burden years later amounted to altering the original terms of their licences.
The bench also rejected the government’s argument that revenue maximisation alone constituted sufficient public interest justification for the levy.
The verdict represents a significant win for telecom operators, particularly at a time when the sector continues to grapple with high regulatory dues, network investment requirements and intense competition. With the court setting aside the demand notices and ordering the return of related bank guarantees, both Airtel and Vodafone Idea stand to benefit from improved balance-sheet visibility and reduced contingent liabilities.
Shares of Bharti Airtel ended Tuesday’s session at ₹1,798 on the NSE, while Vodafone Idea closed at ₹14.21.
