Supreme Court Considers Vodafone Idea's Plea on AGR Dues

The Supreme Court has acknowledged a telecom firm's request to review alleged errors in Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues. Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, considered Vodafone Idea’s plea. Previously, the court had dismissed pleas seeking corrections in the AGR dues.

The Supreme Court on Monday acknowledged a telecom company's plea seeking correction of alleged errors in Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, heard senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Vodafone Idea, who argued the petition's urgency for consideration.

The petition, a curative measure against prior dismissals of similar pleas, remains unlisted. Chief Justice Chandrachud inquired about any communication sent regarding this matter.

In October of the previous year, the Supreme Court had noted similar requests from telecom companies regarding the listing of their AGR-related issues, highlighting calculation errors by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

In July 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the calculation errors in AGR dues demanded by the DoT, amounting to over Rs 1 lakh crore.

Vodafone Idea's liability stands at Rs 58,254 crore, while Bharti Airtel owes Rs 43,980 crore. The court had granted telecom companies a decade to settle these dues.

It was previously ruled by the Supreme Court that the DoT's demand regarding AGR dues is final, and no further disputes or reassessments would be entertained.

The companies were mandated to pay 10 percent of the total dues by March 31, 2021, with the remainder to be paid in annual installments from April 1, 2021, until March 31, 2031.