New Delhi, May 10: Koshika Telecom has not paid the first instalment of around Rs 270 crore licence fee dues, which it was supposed to pay by Tuesday. However, this does not amount to a default, since the company has to make the entire payment only by July 24.The company has been given a 90-day period from April 24, the day it signed the offer letter given by DoT, to pay the dues, which stood at Rs 414 crore on March 31, say DoT officials.
According to Usha Group chairman Vinay Rai, the company is well within the time frame and will make the payment by July 24. He also pointed out that other cellular operators had also utilised the entire 90 day period before making their payments. According to him, the operators who signed the acceptance letter in November, ended up paying only by February.
He is confident that Koshika will restart its services after paying its licence fee dues: ``We are tying up everything together. Currently, we are talking to foreign banks and financial institutions for raising the money to pay the dues.''
Meanwhile, since Koshika has not the paid the first instalment, it will now have to pay an additional penal interest on 3 per cent on the slippage. The company is already paying 5 per cent above the prime bank lending rates to DoT. After adding the penal interest, the entire payment due to DoT adds up to around Rs 500 crore, say DoT officials.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.