Aircel to file for bankruptcy soon: report
19 Feb 2018
Telecom services provider Aircel will soon file for bankruptcy at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the company has dissolved its board of directors ahead of the move, says a report in The Economic Times.
The report said Aircel, which has a Rs15,500 crore debt, is expected to submit an application to the NCLT within a few days. The lenders are scheduled to meet on Tuesday to decide on appointments and the future course of action.
Aircel has not serviced its debt since September and is therefore, not entitled for loan restructuring. Reserve Bank of India has, has also scrapped all debt revamp schemes in favour of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Meanwhile, Idea Cellular has suspended interconnect services with Aircel for non- payment of dues. It did not specify the amount due, but said services will be resumed immediately after Aircel makes the payment.
However, Aircel failed to meet its payment commitments so far forcing Idea to suspend interconnect services, as per the terms of interconnect agreement.
Aircel and Reliance Communications had signed binding agreements in September 2016 for the merger of RCom's mobile businesses with Aircel. However they terminated the deal in October last year for the ''lapses with mutual consent.''
Aircel was originally promoted by C Sivasankaran, who sold it to Malaysia's Maxis Coomunications, allegedly under pressure from then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran in 2005.