The government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that its Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to withdraw 96 per cent of Rs 4 lakh crore demanded from the non-telecom state-run companies like GAIL, Oil India, DMRC and Power Grid as part of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues.
"Since public-sector undertakings are not in the business of telecom services we are withdrawing demands for dues," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court.
Last week, the top court had asked private sector telecom companies to file affidavits giving a road map for clearing their dues with the central government, and sharply rebuked its telecom department for demanding Rs 4 lakh crore from state-run firms accusing it of misusing an earlier judgment.
The Department of Telecommunications has pegged Bharti Airtel's dues at Rs 43,980 crore, Vodafone Idea at Rs 58,254 crore and Tata Group at Rs 16,798 crore.
The dispute centers around the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). Telecom companies pay a percentage of their revenues as license fee to government.
They argue that non-core business like rent or income from sale of handsets or roaming charges should not be included in the revenue of which they pay a percentage - they want to pay only on revenue earned from their core business. The court did not agree.
In October last year, the Supreme Court had allowed the telecom department to recover adjusted gross revenue-related dues worth Rs 92,000 crore from telecom companies. Following the court's order, the telecom department had sought a cumulative Rs 2.7 lakh crore from GAIL India and other non-telecom PSUs.
State-owned firms including GAIL and Oil India challenged the demand, arguing that they did not owe any dues as the court judgement did not apply to them. The government argued today that these firms held the telecom spectrum.
