More senior Vodafone Idea legal team execs quit

Senior executives of Vodafone Idea’s legal team are believed to have put in their papers, just days after the telco’s former legal head Kumar Das quit, signalling that a comprehensive overhaul of Vi’s legal affairs team may be underway.

“Mr Shaswata Dhar, Vi’s executive vice president (legal affairs) and Pramod Rao, EVP (nodal & law enforcement agencies) have resigned,” a person aware of the matter told ET.

A third senior executive who is part of the legal team is also likely to quit shortly, the person added.

The latest top-level exits come days after Manish Sansi was earlier this week named Vi’s new chief legal officer, replacing Das. Sansi, in his previous role, was general counsel and company secretary at Tata Communications.

“Some key legal functions like ‘nodal’ are now part of Vi’s ‘external affairs’ team, and more changes may be in the offing,” said the person cited.

Vi did not immediately respond to ET’s queries.

The latest developments come at a time when loss-making Vi still has over Rs 50,000 crore of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues payable over 10 annual instalments through March 31, 2031. The next instalment is due end-March, 2022.

Vi’s leadership though is confident that its plans to raise Rs 25,000 crore are getting a positive response and will get concluded in two to three months. Its managing director Ravinder Takkar also recently said that Vi won’t shy away from taking the lead in raising tariffs that are currently unsustainable. LookMyGadget