AGR dues: DoT issues notice to telecoms on pending payment

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Wednesday sent notices to telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) to pay all the balance dues without further delay.
Telecom tower testing
The DoT did not agree to the payment made by the telecoms and said the payments were based on self-assessment, according to media reports.

The said details / documents are urgently required for proper reconciliation of the legitimate dues because amount paid is based on self-assessment.

SC order dated February 14 reiterated its order dated October 24 which requires that entire licence fee and spectrum usage charge dues along with interest, penalty and interest on penalty is paid upfront, the DoT notice sent to telecoms said.

The DoT’s notice also said that partial payment cannot be ‘construed as compliance’ to the SC orders dated October 24 and February 14.

On Tuesday, telecoms including Airtel, TTSL and Vodafone Idea paid around Rs 8,000 crore combined, towards the AGR liabilities. Airtel paid Rs 1,950 crore. Vodafone Idea paid Rs 3,043 crore. TTSL paid Rs 2,000 crore and Reliance Jio paid Rs 1,053 crore.

The companies have a total liability of around Rs 1.43 lakh crore. Airtel has a liability of Rs 35,000 crore. Vodafone Idea’s liability is around Rs 53,000 crore. TTSL has around Rs 14,819 crore dues.