SC gives telecom companies 10 years to pay AGR dues

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted 10 years to the telecom companies to pay their adjusted gross revenue or AGR dues.

A three-judge apex court bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, directed telcos to make 10% upfront payment of their AGR dues by March 31, 2021 and the rest in yearly instalments, starting from April 1, 2021. The top court has asked telecom companies to submit personal guarantees within four weeks against the payment of AGR dues.

The department of telecommunications (DoT), in March, had appealed to the apex court seeking 20 years for paying AGR dues.

As per the DoT assessment, total amount was ₹1.19 lakh crore — Vodafone Idea owed ₹58,254 crore and Bharti Airtel ₹43,989 crore.

Vodafone has already paid a part of its AGR dues and has ₹50,399 crore pending, while Airtel’s outstanding amount is ₹25,976 crore.