Vodafone Idea received some welcome news this week after the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s order for authorities to refund excess prepaid tax and interest totalling INR16.5 billion ($190.9 million).

In a stock market filing, Vodafone Idea noted it received the refund in late 2023, with no further amount to be paid following the high court’s judgement.

The Bombay High Court had directed the Income Tax Department to refund tax and interest paid by the operator in taxes for the assessment year 2016 to 2017 in November 2023.

Vodafone Idea is struggling with a net debt burden of around INR2 trillion, with its mobile user base dropping to 205 million, down about 200 million since the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular in 2018.

Earlier this week, India’s government was reported to be considering waiving a significant portion of the interest and penalties levied on Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel relating to adjusted gross revenue dues.