Debt-laden SpiceJet announced on Friday that it has settled all its Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) and salary liabilities and dues. In a statement, SpiceJet confirmed the clearance of all GST obligations. Preliminary documents related to the fundraise indicated that the airline had GST dues amounting to ₹145.1 crore as of September 15.
Following the capital infusion, the airline has also paid salary dues for July and August to its employees and settled part of the pending salaries for June. Shares of SpiceJet rose by around 1% to ₹62.39 per share during morning trading on the BSE.
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Earlier this week, the low-cost carrier disbursed pending salaries for the months between June and August, according to a company source. The settlement of salary arrears comes shortly after securing funds through the QIP. “SpiceJet has cleared all pending salary dues of employees. Salaries for July and August, and outstanding amounts for those who hadn’t received June salaries, were disbursed last evening,” said a person familiar with the matter.
Besides the QIP proceeds, the airline is set to receive an additional ₹736 crore from a previous funding round to enhance its financial stability and support growth plans. Last week, SpiceJet revealed it had not paid statutory dues totaling nearly ₹427 crore between April 2020 and August 2024 due to financial constraints. This includes ₹219.8 crore in tax deducted at source ( TDS ), ₹71.33 crore in GST, and ₹135.47 crore towards provident fund ( PF ) contributions.
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The airline also disclosed that 36 of its 58 aircraft were grounded due to reasons such as alleged defaults in payments to aircraft lessors, financial difficulties affecting maintenance, and shortages of spare parts and components.
This comes as SpiceJet’s domestic market share continues to decline. According to the latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ), the airline’s market share dropped to 2.3% in August this year. It carried 302,000 domestic passengers in August, a 44.2% decrease year-on-year. In January last year, SpiceJet held a 7.3% market share.
For several quarters, the airline has been grappling with a cash crunch amid multiple legal battles over unpaid dues to aircraft lessors, engine lessors, and lenders.
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