Vodafone Idea said that the company on Friday had paid a further amount of Rs 1000 crore to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) as part of its Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues. The company in its exchange filing on Saturday said that it had earlier paid a total of Rs 6854 crore in three tranches. Following the payment on Friday, Vodafone Idea highlighted that the company has now paid an aggregate amount of Rs 7854 crore towards the AGR dues. According to reports, the DoT estimates that the telecom operator owes Rs 58,254 crores in overall statutory dues.
Vodafone Idea Owes Rs 58,254 crores in AGR Dues
Despite the objections raised by the telecom operators, the Supreme Court in October 2019 had said that the statutory dues need to be calculated by adding the non-telecom revenues in AGR. While the Supreme Court initially dismissed a review petition filed by Vodafone Idea and other telecom operators, an application for the modification of the October judgement was heard by the apex court. In its last hearing of the case in June, the apex court requested the telecom operators to make reasonable payments before its next date of hearing. “We have requested the telecom operators to file audited Balance Sheets, for the last 10 years including for the Calender year ending 31.3.2020 as well as the Income Tax Returns and the particulars of AGR deposited during the last 10 years and we have also requested to make payments of reasonable amount also to show their bonafides, before the next date of hearing,” the Supreme Court had said in June. The next hearing for the AGR issue in the Supreme Court is scheduled for 2PM on July 20, 2020.
TDSAT Stays Trai Order Halting Vodafone Idea RedX Premium Plan
It has to be noted that the development is on the heels of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) providing a relief to Vodafone Idea. The TDSAT on Friday stayed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) that required the telecom operators to withhold the premium plans promising “priority” access. The TDSAT said that the Trai directive issued to both Vodafone and Bharti Airtel “lacks even prima facie reasons” as Trai said that the suspension of plans would facilitate detailed examination.
