Vodafone Idea on Monday paid another Rs 3,354 crore towards its adjusted gross revenue (AGR ) dues, a day before the Supreme Court is expected to hear the modification plea filed by the telco and other operators.
"The Company has today paid a further amount of Rs. 3,354 crores to the DoT, being the balance part of the principal amount towards AGR liability," said the telco in a statement on Monday .
With Monday's expected payments, total amount paid by Vodafone Idea to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will be about Rs 6854 crore, which will cover for its self assessed principle portion of its dues.
According to the troubled telco’s own assessment, its
AGR dues amount to Rs 21,533 crore, if which the principal amount has been pegged at Rs 6,854 crore.
"Thus the Company has paid the full principal amount of Rs. 6,854 crores towards the AGR dues," said the regulatory statement.
The DoT's estimate though is for overall dues at Rs53,000 crore.
The SC is expected to hear the modification plea on the payment schedule of AGR dues between telcos and DoT, on March 17 (Tuesday).
The company's shares were up 5.15% at Rs 5.92 in mid-day trade on the BSE Monday, after it was revealed that the government is likely to request the Supreme Court to allow telcos to stagger their AGR dues payment over upto 20 years at a reduced interest rate.
The company, which has 304 million customers, came under increased financial pressure after the Supreme Court ruled in October that AGR would include non-core items as well. The order has resulted in 15 companies facing dues of more than Rs 1.47 lakh crore.