SC grants 10 years to telecom companies for clearing AGR dues of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore

NEW DELHI: In a big relief to telecom companies, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted them 10 years time to clear AGR dues of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore to be paid to the Centre.
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra allowed their plea to deposit the amount in installments and granted time till 2031 to clear the dues. The Centre pleaded the court to grant them 20 years but the court gave only ten years time to the telecom companies.

The court said that the telecom companies will have to pay 10 per cent of their dues by the end of the current financial year. It said that the court granted time till March 31, 2021 for first installments due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bench asked the managing director (MDs) or chief executive officer (CEOs) of telecos concerned to furnish undertaking or personal guarantee within four weeks for payment of dues.
The court also made it clear that in case of any default of payment in installment, the telecom companies will not only be liable to contempt of court but they will also have to pay penalty for delayed payment
The court, however, refrain from adjudicating on whether the spectrum of an insolvent telecom company could be sold and it left the issue for NCLAT to decide.

On February 14, the SC had directed telecom companies to pay the AGR-related liabilities to the government by March 17. Thereafter, the telecom companies had partly or fully paid their self-assessed AGR dues to the government.
Vodafone Idea, seen as the most vulnerable if the court did not allow for staggered payments, has so far paid Rs 7,854 crore ($1.08 billion), but still owes roughly Rs 50,000 crore to the government.
Bharti Airtel has said it has paid its complete dues of Rs 18,000 crore on the basis of self-assessment, but still needs to pay another Rs 25,976 crore, according to government calculations.
(With agency inputs)