On Monday, when the court reopens after the Dussehra holiday, a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai has scheduled the hearing of the VIL’s new appeal, according to the website of the highest court.
The telecom giant Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) is expected to plead with the Supreme Court on October 6 to have the increased adjusted gross revenue (AGR) requests for the years 2016–17 revoked.
On Monday, when the court reopens after the Dussehra holiday, a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai has scheduled the hearing of the VIL’s new appeal, according to the website of the highest court.
After considering the arguments made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the Center, the top court postponed the hearing till September 26.
In opposition to the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) new demand of Rs 5,606 crore for the fiscal year 2016–17, the VIL has filed a new appeal.
The Center had previously said that it was working with the firm to find a solution.
According to Mehta, the government had a direct interest in the operator’s existence since it owned over 50% of the VIL.
It could be necessary to find a remedy, pending your lordships’ consent. We can come up with a solution if it can be kept till next week,” the policeman said.
According to the Deduction Verification Guidelines of February 3, 2020, the VIL has requested that the DoT “comprehensively re-assess and reconcile all AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016-17.”
In a blow to telecom giants like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to reconsider its 2021 ruling that denied their requests to correct purported mistakes in the computation of the AGR dues they owed.
They pleaded for a review of the 2021 order, but the court rejected their arguments.
The apex court rejected their requests for a correction of the purported flaws in the AGR dues computation on July 23, 2021.
The telecom providers had raised the issue of duplication of entries and the need to correct mathematical flaws in the computation.
In September 2020, the top court set a 10-year deadline for telecom service providers that were having trouble paying Rs 93,520 crore in AGR-related debts to the government.
The top court said in its September 2020 ruling that telecom providers must pay 10% of the entire amount owed as required by the DoT by March 31, 2021, with the remaining amount to be paid in monthly installments starting on April 1, 2021, and ending on March 31, 2031.
The highest court said that there should be no re-evaluation or argument from the telecom providers, ruling that the DoT’s demand for the AGR dues was final.
The Supreme Court rendered its decision on the AGR matter in October 2019.
The DoT filed a motion in the highest court, requesting that telecoms pay their debts over a 20-year period.
The revenue amount that telecom businesses are required to pay the government in the form of license fees and spectrum charges is known as Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
In the past, the AGR took into account both telecom revenue and non-telecom income, such as asset sales or interest on deposits.
By excluding non-telecom revenue from the AGR in 2021, the regulations eased the financial burden on operators.