The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a fresh petition filed by Vodafone Idea Limited, seeking a waiver of approximately Rs 30,000 crore towards interest, penalty, and interest on penalty components of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
A bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih took note of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi’s submission, appearing for the telecom firm, that the matter required urgent hearing in view of the company’s financial situation and its significance in maintaining healthy competition in the telecom sector. The matter is likely to be listed for hearing on November 19.
Rohatgi informed the court that following the recent equity conversion of interest dues, the Central Government now holds a 49% stake in Vodafone Idea.
This move comes after the apex court had previously declined to entertain similar pleas. On January 28, 2024, a bench comprising former Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Abhay S Oka and Sanjay Kumar dismissed the review petitions filed by Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, which sought rectification of alleged errors and duplications in the calculation of AGR dues.
Earlier, on July 23, 2021, the Supreme Court rejected the applications of telecom majors for correction of alleged arithmetical mistakes and duplication of entries in the computation of dues. The telecom companies had argued that these errors had led to an inflated demand.
In September 2020, the top court had ruled that telecom operators must clear Rs 93,520 crore in AGR-related dues over a 10-year period. The court mandated that 10% of the total dues, as assessed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), be paid by March 31, 2021. The balance was to be paid in equal yearly instalments starting from April 1, 2021, until March 31, 2031.
The court had also made it clear that the demand raised by the DoT was final and binding, leaving no room for any further dispute or reassessment by telecom service providers.
The AGR case traces back to the apex court’s landmark October 2019 judgment, which defined the components of AGR and upheld the DoT’s demands. Subsequently, the government had filed a plea seeking to allow telcos a staggered 20-year payment plan, which was later modified by the court.
