Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday issued another directive to Bharti, Spice and Hutchison-Essar following blocking of calls originating from the basic telecom players offering limited mobile services.
The Essar group-owned BPL Mobile is believed to be seeking an extension to use the 'BPL' brand name that is owned by Bangalore-based industrialist TPG Nambiar
When Ernst & Young got the mandate from Vodafone late last week to carry out a due diligence on Hutchison-Essar Ltd, it was another feather in the cap for Rajiv Memani.
The Hinduja Group on Friday said it is likely to start examining the books of Hutchison Essar Ltd next week and has arranged funds for a possible bid to acquire a controlling stake in the mobile firm.
Ambani to up ante by $3 bn on Ruia's hint at larger premium.
Two private cellular operators in Delhi -- AirTel and Hutchison-Essar complained on Friday of disruption in calls from cell-to-fixed line phones and vice versa even as state owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd dismissed
Cash-strapped telco Vodafone Idea's proposal for investment of up to Rs 15,000 crore through foreign direct investment (FDI) has been approved by the Union government, according to officials. A top-level group, comprising representatives from the ministries of home affairs, external affairs, finance and commerce and industry, took the decision. The nod, which is an enabling provision, would help the financially-stressed company raise funds to pay up some of its dues linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR), reduce debts and use the money for operational expenses.
Leading GSM service provider Hutch would roll out its services in West Bengal and Sikkim by the end of the current year, executive director of Hutchison Essar Sandip Das said in Kapurthala on Thursday.
Cellular service provider Hutch will spend Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) on network expansion in Rajasthan this year.
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, expanding its footprint in India's fast-growing mobile telecoms sector, said on Tuesday its Hutchison Essar joint venture had agreed to buy a cellular licence in Punjab.
Telecom services, cell-to-fixed line phones and vice versa remained crippled for the second day on Saturday even as cell operators shot off letters to telecom regulator and state-owned MTNL.
The 'Lion of Lucknow' came up with a fine showing on the penultimate day of the Hutchison-Essar Open.
The government, however, amended the tax laws with retrospective effect to undo the Supreme Court judgement and claim taxes.
India has challenged in a Singapore court a verdict of an international arbitration tribunal that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc, sources said on Thursday. An international arbitration court had on September 25 rejected tax authorities' demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes and penalties relating to the British telecom giant's 2007 acquisition of an Indian operator. Two sources privy to the development said India had 90 days to file an appeal against the tribunal award, and the same was done in a Singapore court earlier this week.
The Finance Ministry is of the opinion that Vodafone might drag its tax dispute to court.
AG is of the view that there is no point in dragging the matter further when it has already been "struck down" by one international forum, and also by the top Indian court.
Amid long-pending dispute between the UK-based telecom giant Vodafone and the tax authorities in India, Finance Minister's advisor Parthasarathi Shome on Wednesday said the government should not use retrospective amendment of tax laws to raise revenues.
Cut-throat competition, high spectrum costs, and frequent flip-flops in government policies have made it difficult for Vodafone to make money in the country.
The IT department had issued a tax assessment order in December 2011 asking Vodafone to add Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) to its taxable income, thus raising the tax liability of the company.
The company will spend Rs 10,141 crore to buy 15.5 per cent stake from minority investors.
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Faced with over Rs 11,200 crore (Rs 112 billion) tax liability, Vodafone India chief Analjit Singh on Thursday met Finance Minister P Chidambaram for the second time this week and expressed the hope that there will be clarity soon on the proposal to settle the dispute through conciliation.
The government, however, amended the tax laws with retrospective effect to undo the Supreme Court judgement and claim taxes.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asked UK-based Vodafone Group, which is facing a tax liability of over Rs 11,200 crore in India, to give its view on the long-pending matter in writing, a senior official said.
US-based technology major IBM is contesting a claim of the revenue department which has increased the company's taxable income substantially to around Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion).
Based on Statista data for 2019, Vodafone has 17.2 million subscribers in the UK, 29.5 million in Germany, and over 13.7 million in Spain. Without Voda Idea, the Group will become smaller than Airtel and Jio.
The government may be waiting for the outcome of an arbitration initiated against its levy of Rs 10,247 crore retrospective tax on UK's Cairn Energy Plc before deciding on appealing against losing a tax case against Vodafone Group, sources said. An international arbitral tribunal is expected to give a decree within next few days on Cairn Energy Plc's challenge to the Indian government seeking Rs 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes. If the arbitration award in the Cairn cases goes against India, the government has to pay the British firm over Rs 7,600 crore to reverse the dividend and tax refund it had ceased and shares it sold to recover part of the tax demand.
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