The dispute between Reliance Communications Ltd and Ericsson over a payment has been approved to settle by the Supreme Court of India.
The Supreme Court has asked Anil Ambani’s firm Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to pay Rs 550 crore to Ericsson India by September 30 after the long dispute over a payment between both the companies came to a settlement. The dispute arose when Ericsson India Pvt Ltd, alleged that the Rcom had not paid the dues after signing seven year deal in 2014 to operate and manage Rcom’s nationwide telecom network.
Justices R F Nariman and Indu Malhotra examined the May 30 interim order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and noted that Ericsson India Pvt Ltd was willing to settle its debt of over Rs 1,500 crore for a sum of Rs 550 crore, to be paid by Rcom within 120 days.
NCLAT stopped the bankruptcy proceedings against RCom on May 30 after the firm agreed to pay Rs 550 crore to Ericsson to settle the payment dispute.
“We are of the view that this timeline shall be strictly adhered to and payment of Rs 550 crores be made on or before September 30, 2018,” the apex court said in its order.
“Needless to say, the sale of the assets concerned will go through as has been stated in the orders of the tribunal and appellate tribunal,” the bench said and posted the matter for further hearing on October 1.
This May 30 order has cleared the way for Rcom to sell its spectrum, fiber assets and telecom tower to Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio is set to buy Rcom for about Rs 18,000 crore and would also over spectrum payment liability worth Rs 7,000 crore. This would reduce some of the debts of Rcom which is estimated to be around Rs 45,000 crore.
