Telecommunication companies airtelVodafone Idea and Tata have suffered a major setback from the Supreme Court. In the hearing held on Monday, the Supreme Court refused to give relief in the AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) case. These companies had demanded an interest on dues, penalty and interest on penalty. However, the Supreme Court dismissed these petitions as wrong. A bench led by Justice JB Pardiwala described the petition as ‘shocking’ and considered it ‘wrong’.
A discount of Rs 45,457 crore was sought
This decision has come a day of a petition filed by Vodafone Idea, which is facing financial crisis. The company had to demand a discount of Rs 45,457 crore in AGR arrears. The head of telecom, struggling with the financial crisis, had said that it could not work beyond FY 26 without the support of the government. The company had said that if it does not get support from the government, it will go to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for bankruptcy. The company has already paid around Rs 8,000 crore. Let us tell you that the Supreme Court has justified the DOT’s AGR calculation. In February, the court dismissed the petition of telecom companies. The petition sought to rectify alleged mistakes in the assessment of DOT.
Vodafone Idea shares broken around 9%
After the decision of AGR, Voda Idea shares saw a big decline. The stock closed at Rs 6.75 at Rs 6.75. However, there was no such decline in the shares of Ayartel and Tata Tele. Airtel’s stock closed at Rs 1,816.50 with a slight rise. At the same time, Tata Tele’s stock closed slightly at Rs 60.57 with a slight decline. Let us tell you that the government’s spectrum on Vodafone Idea is Rs 1.95 lakh crore. If the company becomes bankrupt, then the government will not be able to recover its dues worth Rs 1.18 lakh crore. The annual AGR payment is almost doubled from its current operating cash income of Rs 9,200 crore. Earlier, the government also turned down the demand for new relief. In a letter written on April 29, the Department of Telecommunications said that due to the 2020 decision of the Supreme Court in the case, AGR liabilities and a request of concession cannot be “considered”.
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