Vodafone Idea shares end over 4% higher, Indus Towers rises over 3%; here is what SC said on AGR issue

"No reason why the Centre should be prevented from reconsidering the issue," Moneycontrol reported, quoting the apex court bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and Vipul M Pancholi.

The stock today hit its highest level since September 2024.

The Vi stock eventually ended at ₹10.02 on the NSE, up 4.16%. Indus Towers shares gained 3.31% to ₹373.50 apiece.

Indus Towers provides infrastructure to Vi. Hence, a favourable order for Vi is positive for Indus Towers as well.

The Supreme Court was set to hear on Monday a plea of telecom major Vodafone Idea Ltd seeking quashing of the Department of Telecommunication's (DoT) additional adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demands for the period up to 2016-17.

AGR is the income figure used to calculate the licence fees and spectrum charges that telecom companies must pay to the government.

According to the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and Vipul M Pancholi was scheduled to hear the plea on October 27, when the top court resumes working after Diwali vacation.

The hearing on the petition has been adjourned in the past on several occasions at the request of the telecom firm and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre.

VIL filed a fresh plea against the DoT's demand of ₹5,606 crore relating to 2016-17.

Earlier, the Centre said that efforts were underway to arrive at a resolution with the company.

Mehta said the government held nearly 50% equity in Vodafone Idea, making it a direct stakeholder in the operator's survival.

"Some solution may have to be found out, subject to your lordship's approval..." the law officer had said.

VIL 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 refused to review its 2021 order rejecting their pleas for rectification of alleged errors in the calculation of AGR dues payable by them.

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

In September 2020, the top court 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.