In a major boost to Vodafone Idea, the Supreme Court on Monday permitted Centre to reconsider the issue of reassessment of the telecom operator\u2019s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, observing that the matter falls within the Union\u2019s policy domain.<\/p>\n
The top court categorically mentioned that the decision was made keeping in mind the interest of 20 crore consumers of the telecom company. <\/p>\n
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai delivered the order after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who informed the court that the government has infused equity to the extent of 49% in the telecom company and that the decision was driven by concerns for over 20 crore consumers. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has infused equity to the extent of 49%. There are 20 crore consumers. That was one of the reasons for which the government took this decision. The consumers would suffer \u2026 they have concerns, something duplicate billing, some over-invoicing etc, this what I have proposed,\u201d Mehta told the court. <\/p>\n
Clarifying the scope of the relief, the CJI said: \u201cWe clarify that this is in the policy domain of the Union… there is no reason as to why that Union should be prevented from doing, with that view of the matter, we dispose of the writ petition.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, the Supreme Court made it clear that the order was being passed only in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, specifically because the government had infused equity in the company and acted in the interest of Vi’s 20-crore consumer base. <\/p>\n
The decision opens a crucial policy window for the financially stressed telecom operator, which has long sought relief to sustain operations and attract fresh investment. <\/p>\n
Vodafone Idea\u2019s stock witnessed a dramatic turnaround following the top court\u2019s verdict. The company’s shares, which opened over 2% lower, surged as much as 11.4% to a fresh 52-week high of Rs 10.52 on the NSE as of 11:35 am. As the news broke, the company\u2019s stock erased early losses and was trading nearly 7% higher in morning trade.
\nA long legal battle over AGR dues
\nSC on October 13 had adjourned Vodafone Idea\u2019s plea seeking waiver from paying interest, penalty and interest on penalty on its AGR dues demand raised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). <\/p>\n
The cash-strapped telecom company had filed a fresh plea challenging the DoT\u2019s latest demand of \u20b95,606 crore for the financial year 2016\u201317. Earlier, Centre had told the apex court that efforts were underway to arrive at a resolution, noting that the government, holding nearly 50% equity in Vodafone Idea, is a direct stakeholder in the company\u2019s survival. <\/p>\n
Moreover, Vodafone Idea had sought a direction to the DoT to \u201ccomprehensively re-assess and reconcile all AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016\u201317 following the \u2018Deduction Verification Guidelines\u2019 dated February 3, 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had refused to review its 2021 order rejecting pleas by telecom majors, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, for rectification of alleged errors in the calculation of AGR dues. The top court had dismissed their applications seeking correction of what they described as arithmetical mistakes and duplication of entries in DoT\u2019s computation.<\/p>\n
On July 23, 2021, the apex court reaffirmed its stance that the dues determined by the DoT were final and could not be re-assessed.
\nTimeline of payment obligations
\nThe adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dispute dates back to October 2019, when the Supreme Court upheld the DoT\u2019s definition of AGR to include both telecom and non-telecom income \u2014 such as interest and asset sales \u2014 for calculating licence fees and spectrum usage charges.<\/p>\n
In September 2020, the court allowed telecom operators struggling with huge liabilities to clear their AGR dues, amounting to \u20b993,520 crore, over 10 years. It directed that 10% of the total dues be paid by March 31, 2021, with the remaining balance payable in annual instalments from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2031. The court also ruled that no further disputes or reassessment of dues would be permitted.<\/p>\n
The Department of Telecommunications had initially sought permission for staggered repayment over 20 years.<\/p>\n
Following intense industry pressure, the government in 2021 amended the definition of AGR to exclude non-telecom income, significantly reducing the financial load on operators. This change has since been seen as a key reform in the sector\u2019s recovery efforts, though it did not apply retrospectively to the long-pending dues that sparked years of litigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a major boost to Vodafone Idea, the Supreme Court on Monday permitted Centre to reconsider the issue of reassessment of the telecom operator\u2019s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, observing that the matter falls within the Union\u2019s policy domain. The top court categorically mentioned that the decision was made keeping in mind the interest of 20 crore consumers of the telecom company. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai delivered the order after hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who informed the court that the government has infused equity to the extent of 49% in the telecom company […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-969700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-telecom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=969700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=969700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=969700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=969700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}