Bharti Airtel NSE 2.53 % has approached the Apex Court, pointing out “arithmetical errors” made by the Department of Telecommunications in calculating the company’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, people directly aware of the matter said.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) may follow suit in the coming days, the people said. The moves may lead to another legal tussle over an issue that had put a question mark over the viability of both telcos. “Airtel has moved the Supreme Court & Vi is expected to file a petition as well, highlighting calculation errors in AGR dues. They have raised this with the telecom department before but there has been no response from them,” said one of the people.
The telcos are only pointing out the “arithmetical errors” in DoT’s calculations & haven’t taken a final call on filing curative pleas, a second person said.
Computational Differences
Airtel & Vi did not respond to ET’s queries on the matter.
Airtel owes the Govt almost ₹26,000 crore & Vi has about ₹50,400 crore in AGR dues to be paid in ten equal instalments through March 31, 2031. Total AGR demand, as per DoT’s calculations, is about ₹44,000 crore for Airtel & ₹58,400 crore for Vi. Airtel has so far paid over ₹18,004 crore of its dues & Vi has paid ₹7,854 crore.
During the AGR hearings in the Top Court, the telcos had flagged anomalies including computational & accounting differences & duplication in demand items that DoT submitted, against what the operators had calculated.
After the SC’s Oct 2019 order, which widened the definition of AGR to include non-core revenue items, Airtel & Vi had submitted their self-assessed dues of ₹13,004 crore & ₹21,533 crore, respectively, which the court scrapped.
The Court ruled on Sept 1, 2020, that the operators must pay 10% of their AGR dues — as demanded by DoT — by March 31, 2021, & the remainder in equal instalments every financial year up to March 31, 2031.
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