adithya
Core Member
Racing against time to meet the Supreme Court's deadline, Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications (RCom) on Monday paid Rs 458 crore to Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson as directed by the Supreme Court.
Observing there was a 'wilful default', the Supreme Court last month held Ambani guilty of contempt of court and ordered the debt-laden company to clear the dues to Ericsson within four weeks or face a 3-month jail term.
RCom has been asked by both the Supreme Court and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to pay Rs 550 crore to Ericsson.
The company has already paid Rs 118 crore to Ericsson.
The NCLAT on Friday refused to direct the State Bank of India (SBI) to release income tax refund of Rs 260 crore to clear dues of Ericsson.
The Swedish firm signed a deal in 2014 to manage and operate RCom’s network and last year approached the Supreme Court over the unpaid dues.
Earlier, the court had asked RCom to repay the dues by December 15, 2018, a deadline the company missed.
RCom has struggled for cash partly as a result of a price war triggered by the market entrance of Reliance Jio Infocomm, controlled by Anil’s elder brother and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani.
Earlier this month, RCom told the court that a deal to sell fibre and tower assets to Reliance Jio failed, prompting RCom to turn to bankruptcy courts for debt resolution and hence was not in a position to pay the dues.
RCom owed banks $7 billion as of March 2017, when it last made its debt level public. It also owes money to telecom equipment vendors.
-With inputs from agencies.
RCom makes payment of Rs 458 crore to Ericsson
Observing there was a 'wilful default', the Supreme Court last month held Ambani guilty of contempt of court and ordered the debt-laden company to clear the dues to Ericsson within four weeks or face a 3-month jail term.
RCom has been asked by both the Supreme Court and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to pay Rs 550 crore to Ericsson.
The company has already paid Rs 118 crore to Ericsson.
The NCLAT on Friday refused to direct the State Bank of India (SBI) to release income tax refund of Rs 260 crore to clear dues of Ericsson.
The Swedish firm signed a deal in 2014 to manage and operate RCom’s network and last year approached the Supreme Court over the unpaid dues.
Earlier, the court had asked RCom to repay the dues by December 15, 2018, a deadline the company missed.
RCom has struggled for cash partly as a result of a price war triggered by the market entrance of Reliance Jio Infocomm, controlled by Anil’s elder brother and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani.
Earlier this month, RCom told the court that a deal to sell fibre and tower assets to Reliance Jio failed, prompting RCom to turn to bankruptcy courts for debt resolution and hence was not in a position to pay the dues.
RCom owed banks $7 billion as of March 2017, when it last made its debt level public. It also owes money to telecom equipment vendors.
-With inputs from agencies.
RCom makes payment of Rs 458 crore to Ericsson
