AGR Row: SC Rejects Review Petition; Operators Might File Curative Petition

In what seems like another blow for the telecom operator, the Supreme Court has rejected their review petition on the AGR adjustment. This means operators have to pay 1.47 lakh crore to the government.

"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," apex court comprises of justices Arun Mishra, M.R Shah, and S.A Abdul Nazeer said.

This also means now there are high chances that Vodafone-Idea might shut its operation from the country. For those who are unaware, the company has already made a huge investment in the country. So, after this running operations will become very difficult for the operator. In fact, Kumar Manglam Birla had earlier said that if the government is not ready to offer relief to the industry, then they may shut their services.

Meanwhile, Rajan Mathews director general of COAI intimated that the sector is already under huge debt and now this will affect the sector further. "The Supreme Court's dismissal of the review petition is the last straw in contributing to financial distress and it remains to be seen whether the industry will be able to recover from this setback. This added financial pressure on the sector will also adversely impact Hon'ble Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's vision of Digital India," he said.

Moreover, Airtel also issued a statement and expressed its disappointment on the verdict. It says the sector is facing a financial crisis, and this will erode the viability. In addition, the company is planning to file a curative petition. Similarly, Vodafone-Idea is looking for an extension of the deadline and it might also file the petition again.