No salary for Etisalat DB staff till court clears winding up

New Delhi: Etisalat DB, which is in the process of winding up its telecom business in the country, has informed its employees that it would not pay salaries without the approval of the court.

“…it is no longer possible for the company to pay its employees (or any creditor for that matter) without the approval of the Court or a liquidator approved by the Court,” the company said in an e-mail sent to its staff.

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This will affect around 600 employees of the company. Etisalat said that on March 12, 2012, it filed proceedings, in the Bombay High Court, for the winding up of EDB, to put the company into a proper and transparent legal process, in which all creditors can participate fairly, for a liquidator to oversee the orderly winding up of the company.

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According to sources, the salary of March month will be given to employees after the approval from the court. Etisalat DB has announced that it will shut down its operations in India following Supreme Court order that cancelled 122 2G licences, including 15 licences that belonged to the company.

When contacted, an Etisalat spokesperson said, “This is the official message issued by the management of EDB to its employees yesterday - which you have a copy from your own sources.”

Etisalat DB is a joint venture between Dubai-based Etisalat and Indian firm Majestic Infracon. Etisalat blamed its Indian partner Majestic Infracon

for the present situation. “The trigger for this step was the behaviour of Majestic Infracon, including its refusal to fund the Company further, the central involvement of its promoters in the various 2G criminal allegations, and its frustrating the management of EDB, not least by removing its directors from the Board of EDB with no replacements…,” Etisalat spokesperson said.

The e-mail send by EDB to its staff said that Etisalat has filed proceedings for the winding up of EDB in the Bombay High Court and hearing has been set for March 28, 2012. “It wants to put the company into a proper legal process whereby a liquidator can oversee the orderly winding up of the company. Under that process, the interests of all the employees will be protected, as much as possible, by the court,” the e-mail said. The claims of all need to be resolved under the protection of the judicial process, it added.

PTI