Right after
Bharti Airtel approached the Supreme Court for modification in dues related to adjusted gross revenue (AGR), the telecom service provider
Vodafone Idea (VIL) has also done the same.
VIL appeals to the top court to modify in its verdict of last year which asked telecom operator to repay pending dues based on the new definition of the AGR.
According to the Bloomberg Quint, arithmetical errors in the Department of Telecommunication’s assessment of the AGR dues amount to around Rs 5,932 crore of the principal amount, Vodafone Idea told the court in its application filed on Jan. 7, adding it will have an impact of four times this amount after taking into account the interest, penalty, and interest on the penalty.
Also, the report highlights that the errors in the department’s submission of dues in its application in March 2020, the company said, was held final by the top court. Vodafone Idea has sought the court’s direction to allow the department to consider the company’s submission and carry out the necessary corrections.
In October 2019, the court ended a 14-year old battle between telecom operators and governments on the definition of AGR, by ruling that non-core revenue should be included during the calculation of statutory levies. This has resulted in increased liabilities of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to over Rs90,000cr.
Later in September 2020, the apex court allowed 10 years period to telecom operators to pay their AGR dues. Also, the court granted that DoT’s March application be considered as final and no reassessment would be allowed.
At around 2.06 pm, VIL was trading flat at Rs11.97 per piece on Sensex. The stock has touched an intraday high and low of Rs12.29 per piece and Rs11.88 per piece respectively.