Supreme Court gives 10 years to telecom companies to repay the dues of AGR!

The Supreme Court has given companies like Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Teleservices ten years to repay dues related to adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This time has been given to the telecom companies with some conditions to repay the arrears.

The apex court on Tuesday also directed the telecom companies to repay the outstanding 10 percent of AGR by 31 March 2021. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that the DoR has demanded the dues of AGR and the decision given by the Supreme Court on this is final.

The bench has directed the managing directors or CEOs (CEOs) of telecom companies to give pledges or personal guarantees about payment of arrears in four weeks. The court cautioned the telecom companies that in the event of default in payment of installment of AGR dues, they will be fined, interest. It would also be a contempt of court.

The court said that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will decide on the issue of sale of the spectrum by telecom companies going through the insolvency process. The court has given this decision on other issues including the deadline for payment of arrears of Rs 1.6 lakh crore.