The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted 10 years to telecom firms such as Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices for paying the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR)-related dues to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) with certain conditions.
The carriers, however, will have to pay 10% of the pending dues by March 31, 2021, according to an order by the apex court’s three-judge panel headed by Justice Arun Mishra.
The chairmen of the telecom companies will have to give undertakings for payments, it said, adding that a default on payment instalments will invite interest, penalty and contempt of court.
The top court had, on July 20, reserved its order on the timeline for the payment of AGR dues by telecom companies after observing that the request of telecom companies seeking 15 to 20 years for the payment of AGR dues in a staggered manner was unreasonable.
The judges warned the telecom companies and said that failure to pay the installments of the AGR-related dues would invite penalty, interest and contempt of court.
The top court also announced that the issue of sale of the spectrum by those telecom companies which are facing insolvency proceedings shall be decided by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
