The government has given telcos – Bharti , Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea – till October 29 to respond on whether they would opt for the four-year payment moratorium. Further, 90 days have been given to carriers to respond on whether they would want to opt to convert the accrued interest due to the deferred payments into equity.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) letter, sent to the three telcos on Friday, is one of the most important aspects of the relief package which was announced mid-September and is expected to be a lifeline for cash-strapped Vodafone Idea.

“MoF letters came on Friday. The deadlines for responses start from the date the letter was sent, or Friday” said a senior executive from one of the telcos.

A senior government official said that telcos who opt for the four-year moratorium on payments of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues and for spectrum, and also want to convert the interest that accrues over those four years into government equity, would need to give their historical audited financial statements.

“Listed companies would also need to provide their historical share value,” the official said.

Vodafone Idea and Airtel have already made it clear that they would opt for the payments moratorium as well as the debt conversion option. Jio is widely believed to be opting for the payments moratorium as well.

The relief package announced in the middle of September included a four-year moratorium on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and spectrum payments, reduced bank guarantees and the option to convert statutory dues to government equity, has changed the game considerably, potentially easing Vi’s immediate cash flow burden.

Beyond the immediate conversion of the interest on statutory dues into equity, the Centre also has the option of converting operators’ principle statutory dues owing to the deferred payment into equity at the end of the moratorium period – or after four years.

MoF’s letter comes at a time when Vi desperately needs a lifeline to attract investors. The payments moratorium will allow the telco to save around Rs1 lakh crore annually, say analysts.