Vodafone Idea Defers Payment Of Rs 8,837 Crore In Additional AGR Dues
The telecom department has offered Vodafone Idea a moratorium of four years for all AGR-related dues up to financial year 2018-19.
Vodafone Idea Ltd. has decided to defer payment of additional adjusted gross revenue dues of Rs 8,837 crore by a period of four years.
In a late evening filing Wednesday, Vi said that the telecom department had on June 15 raised AGR demand for additional two financial years beyond 2016-17. These were not covered under the Supreme court order on the statutory dues.
Its board of directors, the company said, "has approved the exercise of the option of deferment of the AGR-related dues by a period of four years with immediate effect, in accordance with the said DoT letter. The amount of the AGR-related dues as stated in the said DoT letter is Rs 8,837 crore, which is subject to revision on account of disposal of various representations."
The government calculates its share of revenue from telecom operators based on their AGR, which is considered to have been earned by them from the sale of services.
The Vodafone Idea filing stated that the DoT has offered the company a moratorium of four years for all AGR-related dues up to 2018-19, which were not included in Supreme Court order dated Sept. 1, 2022, which can be exercised within a period of 15 days by June 30.
"The said DoT letter also provides the company an option for equity conversion of interest dues upfront for these AGR-related dues for which a period of 90 days has been provided from the date of the said DoT letter."
The company said the fresh demand of Rs 8,837 crore is subject to revision on account of disposal of various representations, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, special audit and any other outcome of litigation and "the final amount to be paid in six equal annual instalments post moratorium period starting from March 31, 2026".
The central government has already approved Vodafone Idea's proposal to convert about Rs 16,000 crore interest payment dues of previous AGR moratorium into around 33% stake in the company.
According to official data, telecom operators owe over Rs 1.65 lakh crore to the government in adjusted gross revenue up to 2018-19.
The fresh calculation shows AGR liability on Bharti Airtel was Rs 31,280 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 59,236.63 crore, Reliance Jio Rs 631 crore, BSNL Rs 16,224 crore, MTNL Rs 5,009.1 crore up to 2018-19.