AGR Dues: Government Can’t Backtrack After Allowing Spectrum as Security Says Ranjit Kumar

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So far in the AGR dues case, Reliance Jio has made it clear that it has paid all the AGR dues which includes the spectrum usage charges as well. It is interesting to see that the court’s hearing has shifted from the primary concern of AGR dues to whether or not spectrum can be sold by a company under IBC. In yesterday’s hearing, SC had posed a question that when telco’s don’t own the spectrum, then how can they sell the right to use it? Keep reading ahead to find out all the major updates from today’s hearing.

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SC Asks has Airtel Paid AGR Dues for Using Aircel’s Spectrum?

Ravi Kadam representing Aircel Monitoring Committee notified the SC about the 8 instances since April 8, 2016, where spectrum trades with Bharti took place. He told the court that DoT had approved of the sale and the demand for all the dues was raised. SC then asked whether Airtel has paid all the AGR dues. Further, SC asked to present how much spectrum was used by Airtel and whether or not they have cleared the payments based on the 1999 guidelines. After that, SC demanded to be notified about the date RCom started sharing the spectrum with Rjio. Everything the court wants, it wants on the basis of license these companies had.

To the question raised by SC on Airtel’s AGR dues, Kapil Sibal representing Airtel said that the telco has paid all the dues in respect to spectrum trading worth Rs 18,004 crore. SC then asked whether Aircel is looking to sell the spectrum under IBC? Kadam responded by saying that spectrum is an asset and to keep the company on a going concern basis, the right to use the spectrum will be monetised when the resolution plan is approved. The resolution applicant is UVARC. To this, SC then asked what happens with AGR dues? How much has the telco paid already?