The Supreme Court dismissed telecom operator Vodafone Idea's plea against the levy of one-time spectrum charges (OTSC). This comes after telecom companies paid their self-assessed dues to the government after the apex court pulled them up for violating their earlier order and not paying on time.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the telecom operator told a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah that the charges are related to the adjusted gross revenue (AGR). "Don't pay anything... not this, not AGR. You will still not be touched," said Justice Mishra while dismissing the plea.
The Department of Telecommunications had sought a levy of one-time spectrum charges on telecom operators.
Also read: AGR dues: Vodafone Idea pays principal amount of Rs 6,854 crore
Vodafone Idea's total AGR dues, as estimated by the DoT stand at Rs 53,000 crore, while the company's self-assessment pegged the dues at Rs 23,000 crore. The DoT estimate includes Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum charges and Rs 28,309 crore as licence fee.
On Monday, Vodafone Idea paid the full principal amount of Rs 6,854 crore. In a filing, the company said that it paid Rs 3,354 crore to DoT on Monday, taking the amount to Rs 6,854 crore that it owes as the principal amount according to its self-assessment. The company said that it had paid a sum of Rs 2,500 crore on February 17 and another Rs 1,000 crore on February 20. Vodafone Idea today further paid the amount of Rs 3,354 crore to DoT as "the balance part of the principal amount towards AGR liability".
Shares of Vodafone Idea climbed 19.89 per cent to touch the day's high of Rs 6.75 on BSE today.
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Also read: Airtel does its own math on AGR, finds total dues to be much less