COAI urges government to Give 2-yr-moratorium, lower Interest Rate

New Delhi: The mobile industry has urged the Government to help the telcos restructure their debts with a two-year moratorium, lower interest and longer repayment time to help them come out of the financial crisis which has been aggravated by the AGR order of the Supreme Court.

“It will need a 20 per cent increase in ARPU to get the companies on a better financial footing. To achieve this, there will be an immediate need to restructure the debt to Government with a 2-year moratorium, lower interest and longer repayment time. Also, the Government needs to eliminate or redefine AGR prospectively and reduction in License Fees and Spectrum Usage Charges to 3 percent and 1 percent respectively. GST rate needs to be brought down to 5 percent and GST should be removed from all government payments for debt repayment, interest, LF and SUC,” Rajan Mathews, DG of the mobile industry association COAI told IANS.

The July-September quarter (Q2) has dealt a body blow financially to the Indian telecom sector AGR order after the Supreme Court’s, already reeling under a bruising tariff war and heavy spectrum dues payment schedules. (IANS)

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