In a much-needed relief to the beleaguered telecom operator Reliance Communications (RCom), the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has granted an extension on payment of dues to the company’s two creditors who had earlier moved the court.
This comes even as the Department of Telecom is understood to have put on hold approval for RCom to trade its spectrum with RJio.
The appellate tribunal, which heard the two separate cases filed by Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer Ericsson and HSBC Daisy Investments (Mauritius) Ltd, a minority shareholder, posted the matter to January 22 for the next hearing, said lawyers aware of the development.
This means the companies are expected to maintain “status quo” till the date of the next hearing.
Debt-laden RCom owes ₹550 crore to Ericsson, and the deadline to pay the debt ended on December 15. RCom Chairman Anil Ambani had also given a personal guarantee to settle the dues by December 15.
In October 2017, HSBC Daisy Investments moved the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), under Sections 397 and 398 of the Companies Act, 1956, alleging oppression of minority shareholders and mismanagement.
HSBC Daisy Investment, along with a clutch of other investors, holds nearly 4 per cent stake in RCom subsidiary Reliance Infratel. The case was later moved to the NCLAT.
RCom now has to settle the dues, wrap up the cases pending before the NCLAT and get the DoT approval to sell spectrum before it can close the deal signed with Reliance Jio in 2017.
On Tuesday , RJio, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries’, shot off a letter to the DoT stating that the spectrum trading deal with RCom may only be approved if it settles all the liabilities.
RJio also said that RCom should be furnishing bank guarantees of ₹1,400 crore, rather than the corporate guarantees for the same amount it issued through its subsidiary Reliance Realty. According to sources, DoT is reviewing the approval process in the wake of RJio’s letter.
In December 2017, debt-laden RCom entered into an agreement to sell its assets — 43,000 towers, 1.78-lakh route km of optical fibre cable network, 122.4 MHz of spectrum in the 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands and 248 Media Convergence Nodes — to RJio.
Shares in RCom ended down 9.63 per cent at ₹14.26 on a strong BSE, which ended up 0.38 per cent on Wednesday.