AGR dues: Bharti Airtel pays additional Rs 8,004 crore as final settlement, claims compliance with SC judgement

Bharti Airtel, on Saturday, said that it has paid Rs 8,004 crore towards adjusted gross revenues (AGR) to the Department of Telecom (DoT). With this, the  telecom firm has paid Rs 18,004 crore to the government in compliance with the the Supreme Court judgement.

The latest deposit that the company paid on Saturday was of Rs 3,004 crore. On February 17, the Sunil Mittal-led company had paid Rs 10,000 crore to the DoT.

"The company has paid an additional amount of Rs 3,004 crores towards the full and final amount due over and above the ad-hoc amount of Rs, 10,000 crores paid on February 17, 2020 on behalf of the Bharti Group of Companies,"  Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Besides, the company has deposited an additional amount of Rs 5,000 crores, as an ad-hoc payment on Saturday.

"In addition to the aforesaid amounts paid on basis our self-assessment, we have also deposited an additional amount of Rs 5,000 crores as an ad-hoc payment (subject to subsequent refund / adjustment) to cover differences, if any, arising from the reconciliation exercise with the DoT", the telco said.

The assessment of dues was done for the period 2006-07 to February 2020. With this, the company said, it has complied with the October verdict of the Supreme Court which directed companies to pay AGR related dues for the last 14 years.

"...the Company has carried out self-assessment from FY 2006-07 onwards upto December 31, 2019, and interest thereon up to February 29, 2020 in line with the AGR Judgment, various license agreements entered into with the Department of Telecommunications ("DoT") and the various directions issued by the DoT from time to time with respect to Spectrum Usage Charges," it added.

Following the latest payment, Airtel has paid a total dues of Rs 18,004 crore to the DoT. However, as per DoT estimates, the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company owes Rs 35,586 crore to the telecom department.

So far Reliance Jio is the only telco which has paid its complete AGR dues of Rs 195 crore.

Vodafone Idea, which has been hit hardest by Supreme Court's AGR verdict, has so far paid Rs 3,500 crore of its Rs 57,000 crore as estimated by the DoT.  Tata Teleservices, on the other hand, has paid Rs 2,197 crore as per its self-assessment and has submitted details of the AGR calculations to the government.

(Edited by: Mansi Jaswal)

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