Jio to telecom minister: Reject the telcos’ financial relief demand

In a letter to the telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Thursday said that the government should throw away the demand of older rivals— Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea led by a Delhi-based group.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Tuesday sought stimulus in the wake of the top court’s ruling mandating telecom carriers to pay Rs 1.3 lakh crore including interest on account of annual gross revenue (AGR), impacting the two incumbents the most.

“We request the government to reject the COAI demand for financial relief on the Supreme Court judgment and their other outstanding liabilities including the spectrum payments and all operators should be mandated to deposit applicable amounts within the three months’ time period,” Jio in a letter dated October 31 said.