The biggest hurdle for the telecom companies right now happens to be the pending AGR dues which the telecom operators had to pay in the past few days. The telecom companies happen to be in the process of calculating how much dues they have to pay in the coming days. In this new development, as per ET Telecom, Vodafone Idea has said that it is currently capable of paying Rs 2,500 crore for AGR dues. Further, Vodafone Idea would be able to pay an additional Rs 1,000 crore in the coming days before February 21, 2020. The telecom operator has also asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) not to take any coercive action. The telecom company also asked the DoT not to invoke any bank guarantees as well because that would hamper the operations of the company.
No Relief for Telecom Operators
It is worth noting that the telecom operators have been pushing hard to get some relief from the Supreme Court in regard to the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) Dues which amount to around Rs 1.3 lakh crore for all the operators. Out of all the telcos, Reliance Jio is the only one which has paid its dues before the January 23 deadline this year. However, the rest of the operators have found themselves to be incapable of paying these dues given the high quantum. The Sunil Bharti Mittal led telecom operator, Bharti Airtel has dues worth Rs 35,500 crore on its head, whereas, Vodafone Idea has dues worth Rs 53,000 crore to pay.
Vodafone Idea Paying Off Dues Using Rights Issue
The telecom operator had also filed a review petition in the Supreme Court which was dismissed by the bench, but then Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, both filed a modification petition in the Supreme Court asking a direct negotiation with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the payment timeline of the AGR dues. Although the telecom companies could not get relief on the amount of the dues, the telcos were seeking if they could get a delayed timeline for paying off these dues.
Vodafone Idea had recently conducted rights issue for Rs 25,000 crore out of which Rs Rs 2,826.1 crore has been set aside for paying off the AGR dues. It is further expected that the telecom company might get a help of Rs 8,000 crore from Vodafone UK to pay off these dues.
