The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stepped in and filed itself as a party in the ongoing arbitration case between Japanese telco NTT Docomo and Tata Sons, reports Economic Times. Following this, the Delhi HC has issued notices to both Tata and NTT and questioned the role of RBI in the case. The court said that it will decide on RBI’s inclusion in the case after it hears responses from both NTT and Tata on 21st December. NTT Docomo holds a 26% stake in the joint venture Tata Docomo in India with Tata Teleservices (TTL). After the venture started posting continuous losses, TTL was ordered to pay $1.17 billion in damages to NTT by a London court in June. The terms of agreement between both companies provides an option for the acquirer (NTT Docomo) to request a suitable buyer for at least 50% of the acquired price. Tata cites RBI regulation for non-payment Although NTT maintains that Tata is not ‘honoring’ the payment of $1.7 billion, Tata had earlier denied these allegations in August. Tata added that the delay in payments was due to RBI’s foreign exchange regulations that prevents it from paying out the entire amount in a single transaction. The company claimed to have deposited the entire amount with the Delhi Court registrar after it received the arbitrary order. Following these developments, NTT moved a United States district court last month to force Tata to pay the $1.17 billion in arbitrary order from the London court. In yesterday’s hearing, the RBI…
