India's telecom crisis: Who owes how much

India's mobile phone users have been putting up with poor connectivity for a while now. Telecom companies have not been investing in mobile infrastructure.

They don't have the money to do it anymore. That's because they are faced with a huge financial crisis themselves.

They owe thousands of crores in dues and the Supreme Court of India breathing down their neck.

Last year, the court had ordered them to pay the dues in 3 months. But to date, an overwhelming majority of this money has not been recovered.

The government suggested self-assessment by telecom companies. It filed a petition saying that this is in the interest of crores of consumers in India.

In response, the Supreme Court has lashed out at Telecom firms. Today it said that re-evaluation of dues will not be allowed. The court was furious and it was visible in the scathing remarks.

“We won't tolerate this, every company is violating orders. They want to hoodwink us. If required, we will summon MDs of all the telecom companies. We will send then to jail from here. We will recuse ourselves if this is the government's attitude,” said Justice Arun Mishra.

The central conflict between the government and telecom firms is the assessment of dues.

Telecom operators must pay the licence fee and spectrum charges. In October last year, the Supreme Court ordered telcos to pay over Rs 90,000 crores.

That verdict dealt a crippling blow to an already bruised industry. After the order, Vodafone idea and Bharti airtel posted their highest-ever losses.

Those two companies along with Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Reliance Jio calculated a combined liability of about Rs 37000 crores based on self-assessment.

The department of telecommunications has pegged its dues at over Rs 1 lakh crores. The companies say, as per their own assessment, they've already paid the dues. But according to the govt's calculations, they've only paid about 35% of the dues.

The latest Supreme Court order means they will have to pay the full amount. All they can bargain for is time.

Who owns how much

Company Self-assessment Govt calculation

Bharti Airtel Rs 13,004 cr Rs 43, 980 cr

Vodafone Idea Rs 21,533 cr Rs 58, 254 cr

Tata Tele Rs 2197 cr Rs 16, 798 cr

TOTAL Rs 37000 cr (approx) Rs 1.19 lakh cr (approx)