INDUSTRY
Spectrum allotted to telecom companies cannot be asset under IBC proceedings
- IBJ Bureau
- Feb 14, 2026
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has held that the spectrum allocated to telecom service providers is not an asset to be subjected to proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.
The decision will have ramifications in the telecommunication sector, where telecom companies, such as Aircel group of companies, have invoked moratorium on the basis of voluntary corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for restructuring their assets.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar has ruled that the Union government is the owner and trustee of spectrum on the one hand, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the regulator, on the other, and taken together, they occupy the “entire province of telecommunications”.
The judgement has added that while a licence and allocation of spectrum may, in abstract terms, constitute an intangible asset, it is always subject to the telecommunication laws of the nation, like the Telegraph Act, 1885, Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1993, and the TRAI Act, 1997, followed by rules and regulations.
“We hold that spectrum allocated to telecom service providers and shown in their books of account as an asset cannot be subjected to proceedings under the IBC, 2016” the top court has ruled.
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