Vodafone Idea AGR case: Supreme Court defers hearing again; shares fall nearly 4%

The Supreme Court will hear a plea from a debt-laden company seeking to quash the additional adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demands on October 27, after Diwali. The court also directed the government to take a clear position in the case.

Vodafone Idea has filed the fresh plea against the Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) fresh demand of ₹5,606 crore relating to the financial year 2016-17. Earlier, the Centre had said efforts were on to arrive at a resolution with the company.

Vi has sought a direction from the DoT to comprehensively reassess and reconcile all AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016-17 following the Deduction Verification Guidelines dated February 3, 2020.

Earlier this year, in a setback to telecom majors, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the apex court had refused to review its 2021 order rejecting their pleas for a rectification of alleged errors in the calculation of the AGR dues payable by them.

The court had dismissed their pleas seeking a review of the 2021 order. On July 23, 2021, the apex court dismissed their applications seeking a rectification of the alleged errors in the calculation of the AGR dues.

The telecom companies had argued that arithmetical errors in the calculation be rectified and that there were cases of duplication of entries.

The top court, in September 2020, fixed a time frame of 10 years for telecom service providers struggling to pay ₹93,520 crore of AGR-related dues to clear their outstanding amount to the government.

Vodafone Idea owes nearly ₹83,400 crore in AGR dues, and the annual payments currently stand at ₹18,000 crore, scheduled from March 2026. When combined with interest and penalties, Vodafone Idea’s dues stand at more than ₹2 lakh crore.

As per the report, one of the relief options is an additional two-year pause on paying the statutory dues under moratorium at present. The DoT has proposed to give the company extra time to pay its dues, along with smaller annual payouts and a waiver on penalties and interest penalties on AGR payment, the report said.

At 11:50 PM, Vodafone Idea shares were trading at ₹8.82 apiece on the National Stock Exchange, falling 2.43%.

For a month’s time, the telecom firm’s shares have gained 10%. In the last six months, the stock has climbed more than 22%. Since the beginning of the year, it has, however, advanced nearly 11.6%.

The company’s market capitalisation stands at ₹96,641.99 crore.