The Supreme Court of India on Monday dismissed the writ petition by telecom major Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel seeking exemption of interest on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, a report by CNBC TV18 confirmed. A bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala called the petition ‘shocking’ and deemed it ‘misconceived’.
The telecom giants had filed petitions seeking a waiver of interest, penalty, and interest on penalty related to their AGR dues. The ruling came just a day after Vodafone Idea sought a waiver of Rs 45,457 crore in AGR-related dues to ensure its survival. Reeling under a financial crisis, the telecom major had said that it cannot operate beyond FY26 without the government’s support. According to a CNBC TV18 report, the company had reportedly said that if it does not get support from the government, it will go to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for insolvency. The company has already paid around Rs 8,000 crore.
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The company is not contesting the principal amount of Rs 12,797 crore but has said in its petition that the compounded charges are financially crippling.
Vodafone Idea owes the government Rs 1.95 lakh crore for the spectrum dues. If the company goes for insolvency, the government will have no recovery of its Rs 1.18 lakh crore dues. The annual AGR payment is almost twice its current operational cash generation of Rs 9,200 crore.
Earlier, the government too had turned down its plea for fresh relief. The Department of Telecommunications, in a letter dated April 29, had said the request for further concessions on AGR liabilities “cannot be considered” due to the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in the case.
Bharti Airtel too followed with a similar plea, asking for relief on an “equitable basis”.
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