Bharti Airtel to approach government over reassessment of AGR dues matter: Gopal Vittal

India’s second-largest telecom carrier, Bharti Airtel, said on Tuesday that it would engage with the Centre on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues matter, after the apex court recently allowed the comprehensive reassessment and reconciliation of liabilities, including interest and penalties upto FY17.

The Supreme Court’s (SC) latest ruling on the matter, however, only applies to the Sunil Mittal-led telco’s rival, Vodafone Idea (Vi).
“We have always said that the AGR judgment, which we sought reviews on around calculation errors, was something that, having lost, was a disappointment for us,” Gopal Vittal, vice-chairman and managing director, Bharti Airtel, said at the telco’s fiscal second quarter (Q2FY26) post-earnings conference call with analysts.

Vittal added that Airtel is “pleased” that the matter has been allowed for reconciliation by the court. “First, we want to reach out to the government, and that is something that the company will do over the course of the coming days. Then we take it further,” he said.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has pegged Airtel’s dues at around ₹44,000 crore, compared to the telco’s own assessment of ₹13,000 crore. It has, so far, paid nearly ₹18,000 crore.

Airtel and its unit, Bharti Hexacom, in May had moved the SC seeking a waiver of ₹34,745 crore in AGR dues toward interest, penalty, and interest on penalty. It said the September 1, 2020, judgment (on AGR) has “caused a crippling financial impact across the telecom sector”.

In May, the Supreme Court had dismissed petitions filed by Airtel, Vi, and Tata Teleservices seeking a waiver of interest, penalties, and interest on penalties related to their outstanding AGR dues.
Notably, after the government had converted Vi’s spectrum dues of over ₹39,000 crore into equity, Airtel had also written to the telecom department, asking if it had the option to convert its ₹41,000-crore AGR dues into equity.

In a major relief for Vi, this Monday, the Supreme Court modified its October 27 order and permitted the Centre to create a special package for the cash-strapped telco on its entire AGR liabilities, totalling more than ₹83,400 crore.

Last month, the top court had restricted the relief to only the additional demand of ₹9,450 crore raised by the DoT until FY19. That directive had prompted Vi to approach a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI), BR Gavai, for clarification.

While senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi brought the issue to the notice of the top court on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of the government, supported him.