Supreme Court Demands Sizeable AGR Dues from Telcos After Delay in Payment

On Friday, the Supreme Court addressed the government and telecom companies for not accepting the court orders regarding the recovery of AGR dues which amounted to Rs 1.47 Lakh Crores from all telecom companies. The Spire legal body directed all the telcos to pay a sizeable amount of their statutory dues by Friday. As per the effect of the statement by the supreme court, telcos like Vodafone Idea faced trouble as their stock prices went down by 13.62 % and traded at Rs 3.87 on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). However, Airtel

stocks were increased by 3.54 % and traded at Rs 558.9 on the stock market after the statement given by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court also instructed the department of telecom to withdraw their executive orders related to the recovery of dues.

Telcos Have Not Paid AGR Dues In the last 20 years

Arun Mishra who led the Bench, noted that “telecom companies have not paid any amount related to AGR Dues since the past 20 years.” Earlier, Supreme court ordered the telcos to pay their AGR dues by 23 January and also ignored relief pleas form RailTel, PowerGrid and Oil India who filed a petition to get relief in their AGR Dues. The Supreme Court bench led by Mishra passed the AGR order on 24 October, and all the appeals by telcos have been dismissed including the modification plea by Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices. Mishra also marked that “Telcos must show their good side and pay the sizeable amount by the end of the day”. The Bench also issued notice against DoT officer for issuing an order to attorney generals office. The next hearing date would be 17th March 2020.

Telecom Companies Might Face Contempt for Not Following Court Orders

Arun Mishra further stated that telecom companies have no respect for the court. The Bench also ordered the government to take back the DoT order as the department on 23 January asked all their circle officer to be silent against telcos who missed their AGR Dues. After the statement by Supreme Court, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have to pay dues worth Rs 53,000 crores and 35,500 crores respectively or a substantial part of it. On the Bench’s decision, Vodafone Idea marked that they would collapse if the relief is not given by the Supreme Court. The Bench is also going to address the managing directors and directors of telecom companies for not abiding by the court order.