SC allows Centre's plea to recover adjusted gross revenue from telcos

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Centre's plea to recover adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about Rs 92,000 crore from telecom service providers.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, upholded the definition of adjusted gross revenue formulated by Department of Telecom (DoT).

"We have held that definition of AGR will prevail," the bench, also comprising Justices Vineet Saran and S Ravindra Bhat, said.

"We have allowed the appeal of Department of Telecom and dismissed that of licensees (telcos)," the top court said while reading the operative portion of the judgement.

The apex court said it had rejected all other submissions of the telecom companies. It added that the service providers would have to pay penalties and interests to the DoT.

The bench made it clear that there would no further litigation on the issue and it would fix a time frame for calculation and payment of dues by the telecom companies.