NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on pleas by telecom service providers (TSP) Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices seeking to rectify Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) demands raised by the department of telecom (DoT).
It, however, said it would hear the case in two weeks after listening to DoT’s reply to the claims of arithmetic errors made by the TSPs in AGR calculations.
A bench headed by Justice L N Rao referred to the earlier order passed by the top court in the matter and observed that no re-assessment of AGR related dues can be done.
The telcos submitted that arithmetical errors can be rectified and there are cases of duplication of entries.
Vodafone Idea, which has the highest AGR liability amongst telecom companies at over Rs 58,000 crores, said that the figure is not cast in stone and the SC has the power to correct the arithmetic errors. The bench observed that it was only looking at the bar on re-assessment which was imposed by earlier orders.
The bench then asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the DoT, about the issue raised by these telecos.
Mehta said it would be little hazardous for him to make statement without taking instructions from the DoT. Within a day or two, I will get concrete instructions, he said.
The bench, said it would pass order on the issue. It added that some other applications, including those raising the question whether airwaves or spectrum can be transferred or sold by telecos as part of their assets, would be heard after two weeks.
The apex court in September last year had said that telecos shall make the payment of 10% of the total dues (over Rs 93,500 crore) as demanded by DoT by March 31, 2021 and rest amount to be paid in yearly instalments commencing from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2031.