NCLAT Rejects DoT's Plea, Upholds Rolta's ₹900 Crore Plan

The dispute between Rolta and the DoT stretches back more than two decades. The telecom department granted Rolta an ISP licence in November 1998 for the Mumbai circle. A fresh licence agreement in April 2002 required Rolta to pay fees based on adjusted gross revenue. The company later defaulted, leading to demand notices. Rolta challenged those demands before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, which stayed recovery proceedings.

The Mumbai bench of the NCLT admitted Rolta into corporate insolvency in January 2023, shifting the long-running licence fee dispute into the insolvency forum. Thursday's ruling ends that chapter, confirming that government claims ranked as operational debt cannot leapfrog financial creditors in the IBC priority ladder.

The case sets a clear precedent: statutory authorities cannot use post-insolvency appeals to recover more than the resolution plan allocates, unless the plan itself violates the code. For creditors of other stressed companies, the ruling reinforces that the payment waterfall is rigid. Government dues, however large, sit behind secured lenders.

Rolta India was once a leading provider of IT, geospatial and engineering solutions to government agencies, defence organisations and enterprise clients. Its collapse into insolvency with over ₹14,000 crore in liabilities underscores how even established government contractors can fail under the weight of licence fee disputes and debt.