INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
now have to shell out huge past dues to the Department of Telecom (DoT) following a Supreme Court order on Thursday.The Supreme Court
ordered eight telecom companies including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to pay the DoT about Rs 92,000 crore ($13 billion) of past dues
including penalties and interest.Airtel said the government must review the impact of the apex court's order as the companies have
suitable ways to mitigate the financial burden on the already stressed industry
verdict of the Supreme Court
The definition of AGR (adjusted gross revenue) has been a long standing dispute between the DoT and the telecom service providers (TSPs)
The issue of inclusion of revenue from non-telecom activities and interpretation of the heads included in the defini tion of AGR under the
license conditions has been through several rounds of litigation, which have been in favour of the TSPs till now."The telecom service
providers have invested billions of dollars in developing the telecom sector and providing world-class services to consumers
This decision has come at a time when the sector is facing severe financial stress and may further weaken the viability of the sector as a
the DoT's calculation, Bharti Airtel owes around Rs 23,000 crore as licence fee and penalties - a percentage of AGR - to the government,
Vodafone Idea owes Rs 19,823.71 crore, while Reliance Communications owes a total of Rs 16,456.47 crore
with the government demand of Rs 92,000 crore
The DoT has said that AGR should include dividends, handset sales, rent and profit from the sale of scrap, apart from revenue from
Currently, the government is entitled to get 8 per cent of a telecom operator's AGR as licence fee.Operators currently calculate the AGR
on the basis of a telecom tribunal judgement in 2015, which includes some non-core elements
sector is already under severe pressure due to cheap tariffs on data, free voice calls till this month by Reliance Jio and under debt on
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