iWorld
Dialling into decline RCom posts heavy losses amid ongoing insolvency
MUMBAI: The lines are anything but clear at Reliance Communications (RCom), which dialled in a staggering consolidated loss of Rs 8,125 crore for the financial year ended 31 March 2025. With the telecom player still navigating the turbulent waters of insolvency, its latest audited results tell a tale of debt, deferred dreams, and deepening losses.
Under the shadow of ongoing corporate insolvency proceedings since 2019, RCom’s affairs remain under the management of resolution professional Anish Niranjan Nanavaty. In a disclosure to stock exchanges, the company reported a loss of Rs 162 crore from continuing operations and an even steeper Rs 7,963 crore loss from discontinued operations, which include legacy telecom assets like spectrum, towers, and fibre assets still listed at 2018 valuations and now held for sale.
Operating income slumped to Rs 278 crore for the year, against expenses of Rs 440 crore. The auditors, however, weren’t convinced everything adds up.
The audit report issued by Pathak H.D. & Associates LLP is riddled with red flags from non-provisioning of interest on borrowings and foreign exchange fluctuations, to unauthorised asset sales and unresolved willful default allegations. “Had the interest and foreign exchange variation been provided,” the auditors note, “the reported loss would have been higher by Rs 5,110 crore, and the net worth lower by Rs 37,573 crore.”
What’s more, RCom continues to default on statutory dues and has not implemented Ind AS 116 for lease accounting, a miss that auditors flagged yet again.
Even as a resolution plan remains pending before the NCLT and the Supreme Court battles over spectrum liabilities drag on, RCom maintains it has prepared its books on a ‘going concern’ basis. A claim auditors aren’t entirely buying, given the sustained erosion in net worth, which now stands at negative Rs 69,204 crore.
Amidst it all, resolution efforts have hit pause. Applications to migrate telecom licences remain stuck in litigation. Multiple petitions before the NCLT, TDSAT, and the Supreme Court including the AGR dues dispute continue to cloud the future of RCom and its affiliates.”
As India’s telecom landscape moves ahead with 5G and AI-driven innovations, RCom remains tethered to unresolved past dues and legal quicksand. Whether it can ring in a revival or continue to be stuck in voicemail remains a question only the courts and creditors can answer.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
