Airtel, Vodafone Idea Approach Supreme Court on Payment of Dues: Reports

Telecom operators got some respite from the court ruling after the government gave them until the end of March 2022 to pay for airwaves bought via auction.

By Reuters | Updated: 23 November 2019 18:12 IST

Airtel, Vodafone Idea Approach Supreme Court on Payment of Dues: Reports

Telcos in India have long argued that AGR should comprise just revenue accrued from core services

Highlights

Airtel and Vodafone have filed separate review petitions in Supreme Court
The telcos seek review of their penalties
India gave some relief to telecom operators earlier this week

India's top telecom firms, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, have asked the Supreme Court to review a ruling forcing them to pay the bulk of outstanding government dues of $13 billion, media said on Saturday. Last month's ruling gave telecom operators three months in which to pay overdue levies and interest, putting at risk the operations of both Vodafone Idea and Bharti. Bharti and Vodafone Idea have filed separate review petitions in the Supreme Court, the Economic Times newspaper said. The court has yet to decide on admitting the petitions.

The two firms did not immediately reply to emails from Reuters to seek comment.

In their filings, the companies seek review of the penalties and interest on the dues, and query why some revenue components should be included in calculations of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), on which the dispute centres, the paper said.

Telecom providers in India pay the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) three percent to five percent of their AGR in spectrum usage charges and eight percent as licence fees.

Companies have long argued that AGR should comprise just revenue accrued from core services, while the government says it should include all revenue, a position the Supreme Court upheld last month.

Officials of the DoT did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment.

Telecom operators got some respite from the court ruling after India on Wednesday gave them until the end of March 2022 to pay for airwaves bought via auction.

© Thomson Reuters 2019

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.