DoT Starts Using Telcos Rs 25,701 Crore Payments To Settle AGR Dues

The telecom department (DoT) has started the process to settle adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues using the Rs 25,701 crore payment it received from mobile operators such as Vodafone Idea, Airtel and Tata group following the Supreme Court order on AGR, according to top sources. The development comes days before the apex court hears the matter on Tuesday.

The department on Friday decided to settle the dues against the entire money it has received, even though Airtel and Tata group have insisted that their past dues are much lower than what they have paid to the government (telecom companies claim to have paid nearly Rs 7,000 crore extra to reconcile any differences between their calculations and the DoT numbers).

“The local units in various mobile circles spread across the length and breadth of the country have been asked to compute their dues, which would then start getting paid out of the money received so far,” one of the source told TOI. “Instructions have already been given. We intend to proceed with collection of the dues that had fallen first, and would thereafter move towards the latest dues.”

And as the settlement process gets started now, DoT will once again seek further payments from the companies in line with the top court’s direction given on October 24 last year, where it had ordered payment of Rs 1.47 lakh crore

“We are following the process. If the money received so far is found to be insufficient to settle the dues, then we will have to start the process of encashing the bank guarantees. That is the penultimate step before we go ahead with the cancellation of licences,” another source said.

In recovery notices sent to the companies on March 4, the DoT had asked them to pay the balance amount “without any further delay”, saying that “partial payment cannot be construed as compliance” to the SC order.

The further recovery sought from Vodafone Idea, Airtel and Tata group’s Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML) is estimated at Rs 76,746 crore.

―Times of India