AGR dues: Airtel pays additional Rs 8,000cr, claims compliance with SC judgement

New Delhi: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Saturday said that it has made additional payment of Rs 8,004 crore towards adjusted gross revenue dues to the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The payment of Rs 8,004 crore is in addition to Rs 10,000 crore the company paid on February 17, 2020 in compliance to the Supreme Court judgement, it said in a regulatory filing.

The company said it calculated the liabilities on self assessment basis till December 31, 2019 and the payment includes interest up to February 29, 2020.

The company has carried out self assessment from FY 2006-07 up to December 31, 2019 and interest thereon up to February 29, 2020 in line with the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) judgement, Bharti Airtel said.

"Accordingly the company paid an additional amount of Rs 3,004 crore towards the full and final amounts due over and above ad-hoc amount of Rs 10,000 crore paid on February 17, 2020 on behalf of Bharti Group of companies," the filing said.

The payment included liabilities on Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom and Telenor India.

"We have also deposited an additional amount of Rs 5,000 crore, as an ad-hoc payment (subject to the subsequent refund/adjustment to cover differences, if any arising from the reconciliation exercise with the DoT," Airtel said.

According to DoT estimates, Airtel owed nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee, spectrum usage charges with interest on unpaid amount, penalty and interest on penalty till July 2019.

Vodafone, COAI push for relief measures

Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) has told the government that it is unable to pay Supreme Court mandated Rs 53,000 crore dues and sought state support to survive the crisis, a contention that was supported by industry association COAI.

VIL has made a strong push for setting off Rs 8,000 crore of GST credits and a three-year moratorium on payment of the remaining amount which should be staggered over 15 years at a simple interest rate of 6 per cent.

It has also sought drastic cut in licence fee and fixing of a minimum price of calls and data.

VIL, which had last week paid Rs 3,500 crore out of the outstanding dues, in a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said it is "not in a sound financial state" to settle the dues and sought "urgent support from the government".

The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), in a separate, almost similar letter, has urged the government for easier terms for payment of dues by telcos including loans at lower rates to settle liability, as also an urgent implementation of floor prices for call and data.

COAI, meanwhile, claimed that Reliance Jio was onboard over the relief it has sought from the government. Jio, which previously has been at loggerheads with the association of which it is a member over the need for a relief package for the industry, did not answer e-mail sent for comment.