India, Nov. 23 -- Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) - a joint venture between UK-based Vodafone and KM Birla-owned Idea Cellular - and Bharti Airtel have reported a staggering loss of Rs 51,000 crore and Rs 23,000 crore respectively for the second quarter of the current financial year ending September 30, 2019. This is primarily due to a recent order of the Supreme Court (SC) directing telecom companies to give "unpaid" dues towards licence fee and spectrum usage charges (SUC).

The order is the culmination of a long-drawn court battle between the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) and service providers. While the former insisted that for determining the licence fee and SUC - which is charged as a percentage of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) (...