Cabinet approves two-year moratorium on spectrum payments for telcos

Providing relief to telecom companies, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a moratorium of two years for spectrum payments.

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.

Sitharaman said that interest, as stipulated while auctioning the spectrum, will be charged so that the net present value (NPV) of the payable amount is protected.

TSPs opting for deferment will have to provide bank guarantee for the revised payable amount.