Supreme Court rejects telcos’ plea seeking a review of its ₹1.47-lakh crore AGR dues
By MYBRANDBOOK
In a new development, the Supreme Court has dismissed the plea of both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea, who were seeking a review of its earlier order that asked them to pay ₹1.47-lakh crore in past statutory dues of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) by January 23.
“Applications for hearing in open court/ oral hearing are rejected. Having perused the review petition and the connected papers with meticulous care, we do not find any justifiable reason to entertain the review petitions. The review petitions are, accordingly, dismissed,” a Bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and MR Shah said in the order.
This comes as a setback to the telecom operators as the apex court verdict may force Vodafone-Idea to shut shop. The company has already made huge investments and there is not much to gain from its operations, due to steep competition from Reliance Jio and Airtel.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Vodafone-Idea, had also recently said that Vodafone may have to shut shop if the government does not agree to provide relief in the AGR case.
While Airtel has dues of over ₹35,500 crore, Vodafone Idea needs to pay more than ₹53,000 crore. Tata Teleservices, which has sold its consumer mobility business to Airtel, faces dues of ₹13,823 crore.
An Airtel spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the verdict and was evaluating whether to file a curative petition.
“We believe the long-standing disputes raised regarding the AGR definition were bonafide and genuine. The industry continues to face severe financial stress and the outcome could further erode the viability of the sector as a whole,” the spokesperson said.
Airtel said the industry needs to continue investing in expanding networks, acquiring spectrum and introducing new technology such as 5G. “The money now required to pay punitive interest, penalty and interest on penalty, which forms nearly 75 percent of AGR dues would have better served the digital mission of the country,” it added.
Vodafone-Idea also said in a stock exchange filing that the company is exploring further options, including filing of a curative petition.
But, analysts feel that if Vodafone-Idea shuts down its business, it will indirectly benefit Airtel.
The Supreme Court order of October 24 had directed operators to pay up their dues by January 23 following which the operators had sought a limited review of the ruling. The recovery of past dues by the government was based on AGR of around ₹92,000 crore. The October 24 verdict had widened the definition of AGR to include non-core revenue, leaving telcos and even non-telcos facing hefty statutory dues of more than ₹4.45 lakh.
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