The telecom companies have paid nearly Rs 32,000 crore in their AGR and statutory dues so far since the Supreme Court pulled up the government for not collecting the
AGR dues by the earlier due date.
The windfall will help the government bridge its deficit at a time when revenue collection has taken a hit due to a slowing economy.
On February 14, both the telcos and the
Department of Telecom faced the top court's ire over non-payment of AGR dues. The telecom department has already netted Rs 32,000 crore in AGR and statutory dues before the next hearing, which is scheduled for March 17.
Break up of payment so far:
|
AGR |
Spectrum dues |
| Bharti Airtel |
Rs 18,004 cr |
Rs 1,950 cr |
| Vodafone Idea |
Rs 3,500 cr |
Rs 3,043 cr |
| Tata Teleservices |
Rs 4,197 cr |
Nil |
| Reliance Jio |
Rs 195 cr |
Rs 1,053 cr |
| Total |
Rs 25,896 cr |
Rs 6,046 cr |
has paid a total of Rs 18,000 crore so far as its AGR dues,
Vodafone Idea has made a payment of Rs 3,500 crore while Tata Teleservices has paid Rs 4,197 crore towards AGR dues.
A total of Rs 6,046 crore has been paid as statutory dues by these telcos.
The Deaprtment of Telecom (DoT) has pegged the total AGR dues at Rs 1.47 lakh crore. Telcos like Airtel and
Vodafone Idea have disputed the amount and have come up with their own figures that are significantly less than what the government has asked for.