Telcos have to pay 10 pc of AGR dues by March 31: Minister tells Parliament

Telecom operators shall pay 10 per cent of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues demanded by the DoT by March 31 as directed by the Supreme Court, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, also said the estimated revenue likely to be generated will depend on the payments made by the telecom companies.

"Revenue expected from Spectrum auction during 2020-21 had initially been projected in the 2020-2021 Budget," the minister said.

The government in the Receipt Budget has pegged over two-fold increase in revenue collection to Rs 1,33,027.2 crore for financial year 2020-21 under the communications head.

Regarding AGR dues, the minister said the Supreme Court in its judgement dated September 1, 2020 has determined the dues owed by the telecom companies and the methodology of payment.

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court has directed that at the first instance, the respective Telecom Operators shall make the payment of 10 per cent of the total dues as demanded by DoT by March 31, 2021," Dhotre said.

According to government calculations, total AGR liability of Bharti Airtel is Rs 43,980 crore, Vodafone Idea (VIL) Rs 58,254 crore, Tata group Rs 16,798 crore, BSNL Rs 5,835.85 crore and MTNL Rs 4,352.09 crore.

Bharti Airtel has paid the government Rs 18,004 crore, VIL Rs 7,854 crore, Tatas Rs 4,197 crore and Reliance Jio has cleared its entire dues with payment of Rs 194.79 crore.

Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications owes Rs 25,194.58 crore, Aircel Rs 12,389 crore and Videocon Telecommunications Rs 1,376 crore but these companies are under liquidation process.

Companies like Loop Telecom, Etisalat DBand S Tel, which jointly owe the government Rs 604 crore, have shut down their India operations.