Airtel and Vodafone Idea seek clarity on AGR dues from DoT

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are seeking clarity on the methods used to calculate the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues from the telecom department. However, the Department of Telecommunication has not given any clarifications since the ruling of the Supreme Court that had accepted the government’s calculations.

The affected companies submitted their assessment in the apex court after pointing out some deviations in the DoT’s calculations. As a result, the amount submitted is substantially less than the government’s assessment. The court chose DoT calculations over the companies’ reassessment, which put Vi’ ARG dues at over 58,400 crores and Airtel ARG dues at over Rs. 44,000 crores.

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Airtel claims of paying Rs. 18,004 crores and Vodafone Idea claims of paying Rs. 7,854 crores of its outstanding amount. They may once again focus on the government’s valuation without outwardly asking for a reassessment.

A senior industry executive, while keeping anonymity, said “Vodafone Idea and Airtel have informed the DoT that they need to know the ARG dues and asked the government to explain the method used to arrive at the due amount. So far, there has been no response from the government.”

The disparity over the amount increases the standing difference between the companies and government bodies on the timeline for the first installment. Additionally, Airtel and Vodafone Idea firmly believes that by paying the 10% of their outstanding amount by September 1, by the court order, they are eligible for their first installment by March 2022. DoT makes a contradicting statement and orders both the companies to pay their 10% of the dues by March 31, 2021.

A government official said, “The AGR matter will be taken up at the end of the fiscal….DoT may approach (the court) to report on how much they have recovered.”

The government official asserted, DoT calculated amounts had been accepted by the Supreme Court and therefore Dot is under no obligation to offer any clarification on the amount.

On 24th October 2019, Airtel and Vi had submitted their self-audit ARG due amounts at around Rs 13,004 crore and Rs 21,533 crore respectively. It was way less than DoT estimations. Moreover, the apex court had ordered to include non-core items in ARG.

Vi and Airtel need to pay approximately Rs 50,400 crore and Rs 25,976 crore moreover, 10 annual installments, respectively till March 31, 2031, as per the ruling of September 1.