AGR Case: Telcos File Petition With SC Seeking Extension To Payment Deadline

Telecom companies Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices, have filed a modification petition with the Supreme Court on January 20, seeking an extension to the January 23 deadline to pay dues in connection with its Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) verdict.

Following the Supreme Court order of October last year, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) estimated that the total liability of 15 telecom companies, including penalties and interest, would be Rs 1.47 lakh crore.

These AGR liabilities arose after the Supreme Court in October last year upheld the government’s position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses for calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fees to the exchequer.

The DoT has also estimated another over Rs 2.4 lakh crore in liability for non-telecom companies, including state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd and power transmission firm PowerGrid, which had taken licences to trade broadband on optic fibre running along their pipelines and transmission lines.―Money Control