Voda Idea dips 6% as govt asks telcos to pay balance AGR dues without delay

Vodafone has so far deposited Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches to the DoT but is still assessing its full AGR dues

Shares of Vodafone idea slipped over 6 per cent to Rs 3.41 on the BSE on Thursday after the government asked the telecom companies to pay remaining AGR dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay

According to this report by Business Standard, the telecom department has written to all telcos asking them to pay balance dues "without delay" and submit detailed bifurcation of payments (explanation of self-assessed amounts), which it said are necessary for proper reconciliation of legitimate AGR dues.

The government has so far received about Rs 26,000 crore from AGR payments, including adhoc/ buffer amounts given by telcos to meet any reconciliation differences with the telecom department. However, the amounts paid by telcos is woefully lower than the DoT's Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) calculations, prompting the telecom department's latest move, the report said.

"The amount paid by telcos is based on their own self-assessment, the department has asked them to explain how they have arrived at the said calculation, and pay the balance amounts," it said.

Bharti Airtel has submitted over Rs 18,000 crore to the DoT declaring that it has made full and final settlement towards its AGR liabilities but the amount is far less than Rs 37,500 crore (including Telenor) that the government estimates the company owes it.

Similarly, Tata Teleservices has paid Rs 2,197 crore in AGR dues, and earlier this week topped that up with additional Rs 2,000 crore to cover reconciliation differences, while DoT estimates its liabilities to be about Rs 14,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) has so far deposited Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches to the DoT but is still assessing its full AGR dues. According to the government's calculation, VIL owes Rs 53,000 crore in such liabilities.

In all, 15 entities owed the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore in unpaid statutory dues -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges. These dues arose after the Supreme Court, in October last year, upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-core businesses in calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

Among other stocks, Reliance Industries slipped 0.5 per cent to Rs 1329.20 while Bharti Airtel gained 1.3 per cent to Rs 523.45. 

At 9:47 AM, Vodafone Idea was down 4.74 per cent to Rs 3.42 as compared to 0.4 per cent gain in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. Over 6 crore shares have changed hands on the NSE and BSE combined so far. So far in 2020, Vodafone Idea's stock price has slid 41 per cent as compared to 7 per cent fall in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.