By Indu Bhan

Copyright indiatimes

New Delhi: Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea (Vi) has filed a plea in the Supreme Court, seeking waiver from paying interest, penalty and interest on penalty on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues demand raised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Vi, in its application, has sought to amend its previous petition that sought quashing of the DoT’s additional AGR demand of Rs 9,450 crore till FY19. The amended application is now seeking exemption from the payment of interest, penalty and interest on penalty on the principal amounts of AGR dues. Vi stated that it had objected to the issue of imposition of penalty on the ground that non-payment of AGR dues was bona fide. “There was a conflict of judicial views on the point as to whether certain heads of income such as depreciation, foreign exchange fluctuations, rental income, etc. were part of the income for the purposes of computation of AGR or not. In fact, the TDSAT judgment of April 23, 2015, was in favour of the petitioner (Vi) and, therefore, there was no question of payment of the demands, which were to be reworked by DoT,” the application stated. The DoT had earlier in 2020 told the apex court that Vi was liable to pay Rs 58,254 crore as AGR dues which included interest, penalty and interest on penalty, which had been calculated up to FY17, according to the application. Live EventsHowever, it has now transpired that the statement of outstanding submitted by the department did not accurately contain the exact outstanding amount, it claimed, adding that DoT has in the current demands stated that the dues claimed “are above and beyond the AGR dues as finalised by the SC judgment of July 20, 2020, and September 1, 2020.” In May, the top court had rejected a similar petition by Vi seeking a waiver of Rs 45,457 crore AGR dues towards interest, penalty and penalty on interest. However, the bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had then clarified that the court will not come in the way of the government if it wants to help the telco. Vi had outstanding AGR dues to the tune of Rs 83,400 crore as of March 2025. As of June 30, its outstanding debt from banks was Rs 1,945 crore and deferred obligation toward spectrum, payable until FY44, and toward AGR—payable until FY31—aggregated to Rs 1.99 lakh crore.Of these, the AGR instalment due in FY26 is Rs 16,428 crore and deferred spectrum payment payable by June 2026 is Rs 2,641 crore, regulatory filings showed. The government had earlier prepared a proposal to waive off 50% of interest as well as all of the penalties and interest on penalties of the AGR dues. If the proposal was approved, Vi’s dues would have been reduced by nearly Rs 50,000 crore. At the end of June, its cash and bank balance totalled Rs 6,830 crore, raising fears that without any relief on the AGR dues, the company won’t survive. Of the total Rs 1.47 lakh crore of AGR dues that telecom operators were required to pay by January 2020 as a result of the apex court’s order, nearly 75% comprised interest, penalty and interest on penalty, the companies said. The licence fee dues totalled Rs 92,642 crore while the spectrum usage charge was Rs 55,054 crore, as per the order of September 2020.The DoT had then estimated VI’s dues at Rs 58,300 crore, but the telco had self-assessed the dues at Rs 21,500 crore and has so far paid Rs 7,900 crore. Bharti Airtel’s dues, as per the DoT, stood at Rs 44,000 crore, compared with the operator’s own assessment of around Rs 13,000 crore. Bharti Airtel has so far paid Rs 18,000 crore, including a Rs 5,000-crore ad hoc payment. The Supreme Court had asked the companies on September 1, 2020, that they needed to pay their arrears over a 10-year period, after paying 10% of the AGR dues upfront by March 31, 2021. Thereafter, the deferred payment cycle would start from 2026 and run until 2031 with the 10% amount to be paid by March 31 every year.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

( Originally published on Sep 29, 2025 )

Read More News onbharti airtelVodafone IdeaSupreme CourtAGR duesDepartment of Telecommunicationsinterest waiverViBharti AirtelDoTArrears

(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless

(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onbharti airtelVodafone IdeaSupreme CourtAGR duesDepartment of Telecommunicationsinterest waiverViBharti AirtelDoTArrears(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless