NEW DELHI : Vodafone Idea Ltd posted a massive net loss amid a brutal price war unleashed by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd that has ravaged its rivals and reshaped India’s telecom market.
The Mumbai-based operator swung to ₹50,922 crore loss in the quarter ended 30 September from a net loss of ₹4,874 crore in the year earlier, due to provisions made for an unfavourable court verdict.
Its net loss was roughly five times of its consolidated revenue from operations which fell year on year to ₹10,844 crore in the September quarter. This was ₹11,270 crore in the year ago period.
Vodafone Idea’s results come three weeks after the apex court upheld the government’s broader definition of revenue, on which it calculates levies on telecom operators, dealing a ₹92,000 crore blow to the telecom industry, which is already burdened with falling tariffs and mounting debt.
The top court rejected the definition of the adjusted gross revenue proposed by telecom operators and excluded revenue from non-core telecom operations, such as rent, dividend and interest income. The order marked the end of a 14-year legal tussle between the DoT and operators.
The department of telecommunications has also asked operators to conduct a self-assessment of dues.
“Following the Supreme Court judgement on the AGR matter, the company has recognised a charge of ₹256.8 billion in the financial statements," Vodafone Idea said in the statement on Thursday.
