Telcos seek tax relief on unpaid bills

Mumbai: India’s telecom operators want the goods and services tax to be levied on actual payments received from customers – and not on invoices raised – so that they don’t have to pay GST on delayed payments or defaults, which are on the rise due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The operators, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, Vodafone IdeaNSE -10.42 % and Bharti AirtelNSE 0.36 %, are seeking the change for the 18% GST levied on telecom services for a six-month period.

Experts said the problem of rising defaults is causing financial stress in telecom companies, given the tough economic conditions after the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March.