No Relief for Telecom Operators It is worth noting that the telecom operators have been pushing hard to get some relief from the Supreme Court in regard to the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) Dues which amount to around Rs 1.3 lakh crore for all the operators. Out of all the telcos, Reliance Jio is the only one which has paid its dues before the January 23 deadline this year. However, the rest of the operators have found themselves to be incapable of paying these dues given the high quantum. The Sunil Bharti Mittal led telecom operator, Bharti Airtel has dues worth Rs 35,500 crore on its head, whereas, Vodafone Idea has dues worth Rs 53,000 crore to pay. Vodafone Idea Paying Off Dues Using Rights Issue The telecom operator had also filed a review petition in the Supreme Court which was dismissed by the bench, but then Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, both filed a modification petition in the Supreme Court asking a direct negotiation with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the payment timeline of the AGR dues. Although the telecom companies could not get relief on the amount of the dues, the telcos were seeking if they could get a delayed timeline for paying off these dues. Vodafone Idea had recently conducted rights issue for Rs 25,000 crore out of which Rs Rs 2,826.1 crore has been set aside for paying off the AGR dues. It is further expected that the telecom company might get a help of Rs 8,000 crore from Vodafone UK to pay off these dues.
