On February 13, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that telecom service providers (TSPs) do not own the spectrum they use. Spectrum is a scarce public resource owned by the people of India, with the government holding the legal title. The Court said TSPs only have a limited, conditional license to use spectrum, not ownership rights. Therefore, spectrum cannot be included as an asset under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for insolvency or liquidation. A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Atul Chandurkar explained that although TSPs may show spectrum rights as intangible assets in their accounts, this does not mean they own it. Justice Narasimha said, "Mere recognition of spectrum licensing rights as an intangible asset by TSPs in the financial statements is not conclusive of their ownership, as it only represents control over future economic benefits." The Court emphasized that spectrum licences are a "limited, conditional and revocable privilege" granted by the Union government, which acts as trustee of this natural resource. It rejected applying IBC rules over spectrum, saying Parliament never intended insolvency laws to reshape rights and liabilities tied to spectrum use under telecom laws. This ruling comes after disputes involving telecom firms Aircel Limited, Aircel Cellular Limited, and Dishnet Wireless Limited. These firms borrowed from banks like State Bank of India to acquire spectrum licences but later failed to pay licence fees. When the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) moved to recover dues, the firms started insolvency proceedings under the IBC. The Supreme Court made clear that DoT dues are not "operational debts" under IBC. Justice Narasimha noted, "Licence fees and spectrum usage charges arise from the grant of a sovereign privilege and represent regulatory consideration, not payment for goods or services." He added that treating such dues as operational debt would weaken regulatory control over the public resource. This decisive verdict stops telecom companies from using spectrum as collateral in insolvency cases and protects government control over the valuable airwaves.