DoT issues ₹7,800 cr demand notice to Tata Communications over AGR dues

The Department of Telecom has issued a "show-cause-cum-demand notice" of about Rs 7,800 crore to Tata Communications over adjusted gross revenue dues, according to an official note by the company.

The demand has been raised by the Department of Telecom (DoT) for adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from 2005-06 till 2023-24, as per the note dated July 17.

"As at June 30, 2025, the company has received 'Show Cause-cum Demand Notices' ('demand notices') from Department of Telecommunications of India aggregating to Rs 7,827.55 crore for financial years ranging from FY 2005-06 to FY 2023-24, which have been revised over a period of time," Tata Communications Managing Director AS Lakshminarayan said.

He said the demand notices include Rs 276.68 crore towards disallowance of deductions claimed by the company on payment basis for the financial year (FY) 2010-11 under ISP (internet service provider) licence and FY07 and FY10 under NLD (national long distance) licence.

Tata Communications has existing appeals relating to its ILD (International Long Distance), NLD, and ISP licences that were filed in the past and are pending at the Supreme Court and telecom tribunal TDSAT.

Lakshminarayan said the company's appeals are not covered by the apex court judgement dated October 24, 2019, on AGR under the old telecom licence regime called UASL.

"Further, the company believes that all its licences are different from UASL, which was the subject matter of Hon'ble Supreme Court judgement of October 24, 2019. The company, based on its assessment and independent legal opinions, believes that it will be able to defend its position," Lakshminarayan said.

As per initial calculation by the government, telecom operators had liability to pay around Rs 1.65 lakh crore in total AGR dues till FY19.

The calculation as of March 2022 showed that the 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 financial year 2018-19.

The government calculation at that time did not include liability on Tata Communications.