On Friday, Bharti Airtel said that the company will initiate the payments of its AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) dues by paying Rs. 10,000 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) by the 20th of February as the Supreme Court, on the same date, directed the telecom companies to pay all their due by the 17th of March 2020 i.e. the next date of hearing.
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Airtel issued a letter to DoT which said, “In compliance with the judgment of the Supreme Court and its direction today we shall deposit a sum of Rs 10,000 crore (on account ) by 20th February on behalf of Bharti Group companies (Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom and Telenor India). We are confident we will complete the self-assessment exercise shortly and make a balance payment well before the next date of hearing fixed by the Supreme Court”.
In total, the telcos have to pay a total of Rs. 1.47 lakh crore to the government.
Today, Bharti Airtel Limited paid Rs. 10,000 crores to DoT, fulfilling the promise it made in the letter. The company, however, is still accessing the total money it has to pay to the DoT as dues.
According to DoT, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have to pay Rs. 50,000 crore and Rs. 35,586 crore respectively, as their dues. A government official, in January, issued a letter that said that no coercive action shall be taken on the telecom companies if they fail to make the payment for their AGR dues which was not taken well with the Supreme Court of India.
Supreme Court said that a desk officer considers himself a judge and stays our order and thinks that he is above the Supreme court? After which he, too, has been asked to come to the courtroom in the next hearing and explain why he took this action or he could be put behind bars.
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On Saturday, Vodafone Idea has that it, too, will make initiate the payment of its AGR dues, but still hoped for a favorable outcome from the apex court on the company’s plea of modifying its judgment of 24th October 2019, and gives more time for making the payment.
Mukesh Ambani’s Jio was the only company that complied with Supreme Court’s verdict and paid its due by the 24th of January 2020. Jio’s dues were only Rs. 60 crore as the company began its operation in 2016.