SC's AGR verdict will have devastating impact on telecom firms, say experts

Stakeholders upset, given India's telecom tariffs are among lowest in world

The Supreme Court’s verdict allowing the Centre to recover Rs 92,641 crore in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from telecom operators will impact the incumbent — privately owned Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL) — the hard, analysts said.

The extent of the impact will, however, depend on how soon the government chooses to secure the payment and the size of payments.

The definition of AGR has been a long-standing issue between the telcos and the Department of Telecom (DoT). Telcos pay licence fee and spectrum charges in the form of revenue share to the government. Simply put, the revenue amount, which is