The Supreme Court has ordered Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Tata Teleservices and other telecom companies to clear pending (Adjusted Gross Revenue) AGR dues by 2031. Telecom companies will have to pay 10% of pending AGR dues by 31 March next year and pay the remaining through instalments on 7 February for the next 10 years. Bharti Airtel has Rs 26,000 crore pending AGR dues while Vodafone Idea has over Rs 50,000 crore pending dues.
The apex court has ruled that AGR liability for Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel will be restricted only to the extent of use of shared spectrum, which exempts them from paying over Rs 40,000 crore, the combined AGR liability of bankrupt telcos RCom, Aircel and Videocon. Bharti Airtel had spectrum sharing agreements with Aircel and Videocon while Reliance Jio had such an agreement with RCom.
Possibility of spectrum sale under IBC will be decided by NCLT later while existing bank guarantees given by telcos will be kept alive till all payments are made. Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been asked to raise pending AGR demand in six weeks and report yearly compliance with SC order.
Dropping contempt cases against telecom companies, Justice Arun Mishra-led bench asked directors and chairmen of telecom companies to give written undertakings to comply with the top court order. Contempt proceedings against telecom companies will be revived if they default in making payments as per the court order.
