The Supreme Court has ordered the payment of AGR dues over a period of ten years.
Ten per cent has to be paid by March 31, 2021, the top court ruled, according to reports. The top court further added that every year by February 7 a payment has to be made, according to media reports.
On sale of spectrum as part of the IBC process for bankrupt telcos, the top court has left the matter for the NCLT to decide, reports said.
The government had sought a 20-year time frame for telcos to pay back their balance AGR dues, while the two most affected telcos- Vodafone Idea (over Rs 50,400 crore balance dues) and Bharti Airtel NSE 1.05 % (nearly Rs 26,000 crore balance) had sought 15 years.
Vodafone Idea had warned that it would be left with no other option but to fold up if made to pay its AGR dues in one go.
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, according to PTI.
It cautioned the telecom firms and said that failure to pay installments of AGR-related dues would incur penalty, interest and contempt of court, the PTI report added.
In an October 2019 verdict, the same bench had backed DoT's stance, widening the definition of AGR to include non-core items.
The top court judgment on AGR left several telcos - many of whom had exited or merged into surviving carriers - facing AGR dues of over Rs 1.6 lakh crore that included license fees, spectrum usage charges, interest and penalties.
While Vodafone Idea has so far paid Rs 7,854 crore, Airtel has paid over Rs 18,000 crore.
Reliance Jio which started operations in 2016 has been least affected by the AGR case and has cleared its dues of Rs 195 crore.
RCom insolvency
DoT has already registered its objection to transfer of spectrum as part of Anil Ambani-led RCom's resolution plan before the NCLT. It has refused to give nod to these insolvency resolutions unless the AGR dues is cleared.
The verdict has thrown the ball in the NCLT court on deciding the crucial question whether spectrum can be sold under the insolvency process.