What's next for Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel after Supreme Court's AGR blow?
AGR row: Soon after the court judgement, Airtel said that it's in the process of doing self-assessment of the dues, and shall submit Rs 10,000 crore by February 20

- Feb 14, 2020,
- Updated Feb 14, 2020 8:42 PM IST
AGR row: In what seems like an end of road for the telecom operators, the Supreme Court denied any relief to them on the AGR (adjusted gross revenues) issue. The court took a tough stance against them, and asked to pay up the dues of Rs 1.47-lakh crore by the end of February 14. The court said that it will initiate contempt against telcos as not even a single penny has been deposited yet as directed by the court in its October judgment. The court also said that "we draw contempt proceedings against the desk officer" at the DoT (department of telecom) for violating the court's earlier order.
In addition, the three-judge court also summoned the top bosses of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, MTNL, BSNL, Reliance Communications, Tata Tele and others to appear in court on March 17 - the next date of hearing in the case. "This case projects a very disturbing scenario. The companies have violated the order passed by this court in pith and substance. In spite of the dismissal of the review application, they have not deposited any amount so far. It appears the way in which things are happening that they have scant respect to the directions issued by this court," the order said.
Soon after the court judgement, Airtel said that it's in the process of doing self-assessment of the dues, and shall submit Rs 10,000 crore (out of the total dues of about Rs 35,600 crore) by February 20. "We are confident we will complete the self-assessment exercise shortly... supporting documentation and calculations (financial year and license wise) in respect of the self-assessment and payments, will also be submitted by us in due course," said Airtel's letter to the DoT member.
AGR row: In what seems like an end of road for the telecom operators, the Supreme Court denied any relief to them on the AGR (adjusted gross revenues) issue. The court took a tough stance against them, and asked to pay up the dues of Rs 1.47-lakh crore by the end of February 14. The court said that it will initiate contempt against telcos as not even a single penny has been deposited yet as directed by the court in its October judgment. The court also said that "we draw contempt proceedings against the desk officer" at the DoT (department of telecom) for violating the court's earlier order.
In addition, the three-judge court also summoned the top bosses of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, MTNL, BSNL, Reliance Communications, Tata Tele and others to appear in court on March 17 - the next date of hearing in the case. "This case projects a very disturbing scenario. The companies have violated the order passed by this court in pith and substance. In spite of the dismissal of the review application, they have not deposited any amount so far. It appears the way in which things are happening that they have scant respect to the directions issued by this court," the order said.
Soon after the court judgement, Airtel said that it's in the process of doing self-assessment of the dues, and shall submit Rs 10,000 crore (out of the total dues of about Rs 35,600 crore) by February 20. "We are confident we will complete the self-assessment exercise shortly... supporting documentation and calculations (financial year and license wise) in respect of the self-assessment and payments, will also be submitted by us in due course," said Airtel's letter to the DoT member.