Airtel and Vodafone-Idea are collectively liable to pay a sum of Rs. 1.47 lakhs crores towards Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) to the Department of Telecom. Airtel has paid Rs. 10,000 crores, whereas Vodafone-Idea has paid Rs. 2,500 crores till now.
Crux of the Matter
Deal of the Dues As per the provisions of AGR, these telecom companies are liable to pay a huge sum to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). Owing to heavy losses, these companies informed DoT that only partial payment will be sustainable. The last date to make payment was 23 January but no company was able to pay its dues. Thus on 14th February, DoT issued a new notice strictly asking telecom companies to make the payment on the day itself. However, the companies declared that they were not in a position to pay.
Who Pays, How Much? According to the last estimation, Vodafone-Idea has dues of Rs. 53,000 crores of which Rs. 24,729 crores are spectrum dues and remaining Rs. 28,309 crores are license fees. Airtel and Tata Telecom Services are liable to pay Rs. 35,586 crores and Rs. 13,800 crores respectively. State-owned BSNL and MTNL are also on the list and are required to pay dues worth Rs. 4,989 and Rs. 3,122 crores respectively. Reliance Jio is the only telecom player that has paid its due of Rs. 195 crores before 23rd January.
Telecom Companies’ Response After paying a sum of Rs. 10,000 crores as part of AGR due, Airtel has responded to pay another partial sum of 10,000 crores by 20 February and rest afterward. Whereas Vodafone-Idea has declared that the company will pay it’s dues soon as the company is currently evaluating how much dues can be paid. Vodafone-Idea has paid Rs. 2,500 crores. Reliance Communication and Aircel will pay through the insolvency process. Further, the telecom lawyer has urged the defendants not to encash Bank Guarantee, otherwise, it will lead to shutdown of companies.
By Apex Court For telecoms, the Supreme Court’s strict decision may result in a severe threat and their survival in the market may become difficult. Supreme Court has rejected further extension for these companies to pay their dues. The Supreme Court allowed DoT to take punitive measures without serving any notice against these companies.
Curiopedia
Telecommunications in India– India’s telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1.183 billion subscribers as on 31 May 2019. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom operators and hyper-competition among them. As on 31 July 2018, India has the world’s second-largest Internet user-base with 460.24 million broadband internet subscribers in the country. More Info
Curated Coverage
NDTV – Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Tata Teleservices To Pay Telecom Department Today: Report
Economic Times – Vodafone Idea bank guarantees unlikely to be invoked for now
Business Today – AGR dues: Who hurts if Vodafone Idea goes down?
Economic Times – Voda Idea tells SC it can pay Rs 2,500 cr now, SC grants no relief
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