Airtel postpones Q2 results till Nov 14

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel has deferred the release of its second-quarter earnings report till November 14 as it sought clarity and "support" from the government on Rs 42,000 crore statutory dues it owes to the exchequer following the Supreme Court judgment.

It was scheduled to announce earnings for July-September quarter on Tuesday but in a notice to the stock exchanges, it said the same is now being deferred till November 14.

"The company is approaching the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to seek clarity on the total amounts involved and request for their support to deal with this adverse outcome," it said in the notice.

Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and other telecom operators may have to pay the government a whopping Rs 1.42 lakh crore following the Supreme Court order last week that sent shock waves through an industry already grappling with billions of dollars in debt and an intense tariff war to retain customers.

The top court had upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses in calculating the annual adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

According to the DoT's calculations, Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 42,000 crore after including licence fees and spectrum usage charges.