Vodafone Idea (Vi) cannot believe the Supreme Court (SC) judgement on the recent adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues case. As per an ET Telecom report, the telco has said it is ‘inconceivable’ or unimaginable that the SC is not considering the request for rectification of errors in the AGR dues amount. Further, Vi said that it is a “travesty of justice” that SC isn’t allowing for the errors in the dues amount to be rectified. The decision from the SC will make Vodafone Idea pay Rs 25,000 crore extra, and it might be the reason why it goes “under”, meaning, out of the market.
Vodafone Idea Recently Filed a Review Petition on AGR Judgement
The third-largest telco in India had recently approached the SC and filed a review petition on the apex court’s order favouring the amount that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had calculated.
The telco’s plea isn’t to change the assessed amount but only to rectify the errors if they are present. Vi has further clarified its intention that it doesn’t want to “wiggle” from paying the AGR dues, as the court has said. But if there’s a chance that it can survive by fair means and by making a request for rectifying the errors in the calculated amount that it is entitled to, the telco can’t believe that the SC doesn’t understand that.
Vi is in bad shape financially. If the telco’s debt burden isn’t reduced, it might have to close shop in the future. Vodafone Idea said that it is a “travesty of justice” that a petitioner can’t even ask for any rectification of the error.
The statement from Vodafone Idea isn’t wrong if there’s an absolute judgement error from the DoT in the final dues amount. The telco isn’t doing it to just seek short-term relief from paying the dues but to stay in the market for long-term and keep providing network services to its millions of users.
