Indian operator Bharti Airtel made another early payment for spectrum to the Department of Telecom (DoT) totalling INR79 billion ($946 million), with the latest covering all deferred liabilities from auctions in 2012 and 2015.

Airtel stated the liabilities carried interest rates of 9.75 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

In August 2022, Airtel made a INR83.1 billion payment to cover four years of spectrum fees upfront, after paying INR243.3 billion between December 2021 and March 2022 for previous auction wins.

DoT reforms in 2021 gave operators flexibility to pay their deferred spectrum liabilities at any time.

In early 2022, Reliance Jio paid INR307.9 billion covering interest relating to spectrum acquired in auctions in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and purchases from Airtel in August 2021.