New Delhi: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel is learnt to have submitted a bank guarantee of Rs 644 crore in telecom tribunal Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to complete the merger of Tata Teleservices’ consumer business with the company. The TDSAT on May 2 granted partial stay on a Rs 8,300-crore demand raised by the telecom department from Bharti Airtel for approving its merger with the consumer business of Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL).
“Bharti Airtel has submitted bank guarantee of around Rs 644 crore in TDSAT to complete merger of Tata Telservices’ (consumer business) with the company as was directed by the tribunal,” a source said. An e-mail query sent to the firm elicited no reply. The TDSAT directed “the concerned authorities of the Union of India to take the merger of two companies and licence on record”, subject to stay on one-time spectrum charges (OTSC) demand of around Rs 7,000 crore. The tribunal also asked Airtel to submit 50 pc payment of Rs 1,287.97 crore demand raised by the Department of Telecom (DoT) as OTSC for Chennai circle licence extension from November 30, 2014, to September 27, 2021.
