Vodafone Idea says it fully paid license fees dues for Q1 of FY 2021-22

VIL has a target to achieve Rs 4,000 crore of annualised cost savings by the end of this calendar year and claims to have achieved about 70 per cent of the targeted annualised savings on a run-rate basis by the end of the reported quarter.

Beleaguered telecom giant Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) said that it has fully paid the license fee dues for Q1 of FY 2021-22, refuting a media story that claimed a shortfall in payment.

According to a report in the Times of India, VIL had failed to pay the full licence fee for Q1 of the current financial year. It said that the company had fallen short of Rs 150 crores. However, the telecom company refuted the report in a statement to CNBC TV-18, stating that it has fully paid its dues for Q1 of this financial year.

The debt-ridden private company on Saturday posted a lower consolidated loss of Rs 7,319 crore for the first quarter ended on June 30, 2021, against Rs 25,460 crore loss in the same quarter a year ago. The company has undertaken the cost optimization exercise in line with the evolving industry structure and business model.

VIL has a target to achieve Rs 4,000 crore of annualised cost savings by the end of this calendar year and claims to have achieved about 70 percent of the targeted annualised savings on a run-rate basis by the end of the reported quarter.

"We continue to focus on executing our strategy to keep our customers ahead, and our cost optimization plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings. We are in active discussion with potential investors for fundraising, to achieve our strategic intent," VIL MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar had said in a statement.

Earlier, amid an existential crisis facing the firm over Rs 50,000 crore unpaid dues towards the government, billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla recently stepped down as chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd, within two months of offering to hand over the Aditya Birla Group's stake in the debt-laden telco to the government.

The company's total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of June 30, 2021, of VIL stood at Rs 1,91,590 crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1,06,010 crore and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability of Rs 62,180 crore that are due to the government.