Supreme Court Says No To Recalculation Of AGR Dues; Telcos Request For DoT Error

The AGR issue has become the bone of contention between the ministry and the telecom operators, as the Supreme Court has reserved its stand. The apex court of India has finally cleared that dues cannot be recomputed, which means there will be no changes in the dues.

Telcos Petition In The Supreme Court

Notably, Vodafone-Idea, Airtel, and Tata Teleservices have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against AGR Dues. The telecom operators believe that there are errors in calculations and want correction in the amount.

However, telecom operators asked the apex court for permission so that they can show arithmetical errors done by the telecom department in calculating the adjusted gross revenue dues. All three telecom players have highlighted all the errors made by the ministry in calculating the dues.

Tata Teleservices, Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea filed pleas this year in January as they want some modifications to the Supreme Court order. The bench of the three judges is comprising of Justice LN Rao, Justice Abdul Nazeer, and Justice MR Shah reserved its stand on the verdict.

"We are not a fly-by-night operator, let DoT see the calculation errors. If DoT agrees with our clarifications, we may get some rebate." The figure is not cast in stone, SC has the power to correct the arithmetic error. "My dues are Rs. 58,000 crores, we are about to go under, our debts are 1.8 lakh crores. Let us place our calculations before DOT, let DOT take a call," it added.

Vodafone-Idea AGR Dues Details

It is important to note that Vodafone-Idea in its Q4 FY21 result said that it is looking for Government support to reduce AGR dues. The joint venture between the UK's Vodafone Group Plc and Aditya Birla Group is the telecom operator that hit the hardest.

However, Vi's assessment said that its dues are close to Rs. 21, 533 crores, whereas Airtel and Tata Teleservices said that their dues stand at Rs. 13, 003 crores and Rs. 2,197 crores. The 18-year-old AGR case is not going to end soon as Vi is running out of money and struggling to clear its dues.