NEW DELHI: Just days after the Supreme Court threatened non-compliant telcos with contempt of court charges, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (VIL) and the Tata Group hastened to make partial payments of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

Monday saw the Department of Telecom receive Rs 14,697 crore out of the estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in pending statutory payments, with Bharti Airtel depositing Rs 10,000 crore and VIL and the Tatas paying up Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 2,197 crore, respectively.

DoT’s calculations peg Bharti Airtel’s total dues at Rs 35,586 crore, VIL’s at Rs 53,038 crore and the Tata group’s at Rs 13,823 crore.

It is still unclear whether the DoT will take any action on the companies before the next SC hearing on March 17, since the telecom companies are already in violation of its Friday order to self-assess liabilities and pay up all dues immediately.

Airtel and VIL have both promised to make good on what they owe according to their own assessments, with former pledging to pay the remaining amount before March 17 and VIL promising to deposit another Rs 1,000 crore before the end of this week.

In fact, while Vodafone Idea sought a reprieve from the apex court during the day from possible coercive action by the DoT, the SC refused to entertain its petitions.

The telecom department’s Friday order had already made it clear that action, including the invocation of bank guarantees, may be taken “without any notice” in case the telcos did not pay all dues by midnight on Friday.Sources say the department is currently assessing legal options available to it.