NEW DELHI: After Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it would approach the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)for the settlement of its Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues.
Bharti Airtel’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director Gopal Vittal said the company welcomed the court’s recent decision allowing the assessment of Vodafone Idea’s AGR dues, including interest and penalties.
In May, telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Tata Teleservices had filed a petition seeking a waiver of interest, penalties, and interest on penalties on their pending AGR dues.
The plea was, however, dismissed by the court at that time.
Vodafone Idea, in a separate case, received major relief from the Supreme Court on Monday, which clarified that the government is free to consider relief on both additional and reassessed AGR dues.
“We have always said that the AGR judgment which you know we sought reviews on around calculation errors was something that you know having lost was a disappointment for us. So in that sense, we are pleased that this has been allowed for reconciliation by the court. We are now going to be taking it one step at a time. So first we're going to reach out to the government and that is something that the company will do over the course of the coming days," Bharti Airtel, Vice- Chairman and MD, Gopal Vittal said during the company's earnings call.
Earlier, Vodafone Idea had challenged the DoT’s demand for an additional Rs 9,450 crore in AGR dues, seeking a waiver on interest and penalties. In an amended petition, the company also sought a waiver on penalties and interest, arguing that some components of the dues were still under dispute.
During the company’s earnings call, Vittal also commented on the performance of 5G technology, noting that it has not yet lived up to its global promise.
“One of the pain points in the telecom industry worldwide is that 5G has not lived up to what it was meant to be. The primary use case of 5G so far has been speed,” he said.
Vittal added that while some use cases such as network slicing have been explored in markets like the US, proper monetization of 5G has not yet taken off globally.
