Vodafone Idea shares surged 8% following the Delhi High Court's directive ordering a ₹53.09 crore tax refund to the telecom giant. According to Moneycontrol, the stock reached ₹15.20 per share during the session, with sentiment further aided by reports that the company is close to securing a loan from State Bank of India (SBI). The telecom operator is looking to raise around ₹35,000 crore, including a ₹25,000 crore loan and ₹10,000 crore as a line of credit, as reported by Business Standard.
The Delhi High Court has directed the Income Tax Department to refund ₹53,09,56,470 to Vodafone Idea Limited along with applicable interest by September 30, 2026. According to reports from Business Standard, a Division Bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta held that a refund arising from an assessment or appellate order cannot be withheld merely because the taxpayer has not furnished Form 26B. The Court further ordered that if the amount is not credited by the specified date, the entire refund would carry additional interest at 1 per cent per month over and above the statutory interest. Vodafone Idea has clarified to stock exchanges that the matter is a routine tax matter and does not require formal disclosure under SEBI regulations, as the amount involved does not exceed the materiality threshold.
The dispute concerned tax refunds relating to assessment years 2003-04 and 2008-09 to 2013-14. As reported by Business Standard, Vodafone Idea had succeeded before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in a series of orders passed between April 2024 and February 2025. Pursuant to those orders, the Assessing Officer passed appeal-effect orders and quantified a total refund of ₹53.09 crore. Despite this, the amount had not been released, prompting the company to approach the High Court after the Revenue insisted on submitting Form 26B.
The case involved a significant outstanding demand dispute between the parties. According to Business Standard, the Department cited a total demand of approximately ₹924.57 crore against Vodafone Idea. However, the Revenue acknowledged that ₹913.66 crore of this amount had already been stayed by various authorities and courts, leaving approximately ₹10.91 crore without a stay. Vodafone Idea disputed even this figure, claiming that only ₹27.63 lakh was actually outstanding against it. The High Court left the factual dispute to the tax authorities while ruling against the Revenue's reliance on outstanding demands.
The central question before the Court was whether the Department could insist on Form 26B and rely on mechanisms under Section 200A of the Income Tax Act and Rule 31A of the Income Tax Rules to delay a refund. As reported by Business Standard, the Court answered against the Revenue, holding that Sections 200A and 201 operate in different fields. The Bench noted that once a competent Assessing Officer makes an assessment under Section 201 or an appellate authority passes an order resulting in a refund, the taxpayer acquires a 'vested and crystallised right' to receive the refund along with applicable interest. The Court rejected the Revenue's reliance on outstanding demands, noting that the Department had failed to produce any order under Section 245 authorising the withholding of the refund.
For the June-ended quarter (Q1FY27), Vodafone Idea reported a net loss of ₹3,754 crore, which was narrower than the net loss of ₹6,608 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter last year. On a sequential basis, the reported profit of ₹51,970 crore in Q4 FY26 was driven by a one-time exceptional gain of ₹58,116 crore related to the government's relief on AGR dues. Excluding this exceptional gain, the company's loss narrowed from ₹5,286 crore in the previous quarter. Its consolidated revenue from operations stood at ₹11,689 crore during the reported quarter, marking a 2.4% increase from ₹11,023 crore in the June 2025 quarter. Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to ₹195, up 10.2% year-on-year, representing the highest ARPU growth in the industry. The company's total subscriber base stood at 193.1 million, compared with 192.8 million in Q4 FY26, with 130.1 million 4G/5G subscribers up from 127.4 million in the same period last year.
