Shares of telecom operators Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel traded high on Tuesday after the Bombay High Court ended a 13 yearlong battle. The court struck down governments notices that demanded levy a one-time spectrum charge (OTSC) retrospectively, significantly boosting financial stability for both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
Vodafone Idea shares had ended Monday’s session 4% lower at Rs 14.35 but remain up 24% so far in 2026. Bharti Airtel shares closed 1.2% higher at Rs 1,820.10 on Monday. Unlike Vodafone Idea, Airtel has declined around 14% year-to-date.
In its ruling, the HC observed that the Centre failed to justify the retrospective nature of the levy. Besides dismissing the Centre’s decision to levy a one-time spectrum charge (OTSC) retrospectively on spectrum holdings above 6.2 MHz, the court also directed the quashing of demand notices and the return of bank guarantees that have been locked away for over a decade.
The High Court concluded that the Union government failed to identify any provision in the Telegraph Act or in the licence agreements that allowed it to retrospectively levy the one-time spectrum charge. “The respondent has not been able to identify any source of power to issue the impugned decisions and the consequent demand notices,” the Bench said.
Rejecting, the government’s argument that revenue generation alone could justify the levy in the name of public interest. “Equating revenue maximization to public interest in all cases without exception is unacceptable,” the court observed.
While the company figures are not disclosed yet, the combined potential benefit is estimated to exceed ₹24,000 crore, factoring in interest accrued on the disputed amounts. Additionally, the ruling also removes a long-standing regulatory overhang for both telecom companies and is expected to strengthen their balance-sheet positions.
Though this is a major achievement for the telecom firms, the legal battle may not be over yet. The central government retains the right to challenge this order in the Supreme Court. Besides, the apex court has been hearing parallel proceedings regarding OTSC, which could eventually provide the final word on the retrospective levies.