Vodafone Idea Q1 losses rise to Rs 25,460 cr on provisioning for AGR dues

The company said it has recognised additional charge of Rs 19,440.5 crore in June quarter towards AGR liabilities

India's third largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Thursday reported a sharp rise in its losses to Rs 25,460 crore for the April-June quarter of 2020-21 due to high provisioning for statutory dues.

The losses of Vodafone Idea stood at about Rs 4,874 crore in the year-ago period.

The revenue from operations came in at Rs 10,659.3 crore for the first quarter of FY2021, against Rs 11,269.9 crore in the same period of the previous year, according to a regulatory filing.

The company said it has recognised additional charge of Rs 19,440.5 crore in June quarter towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liabilities.

"...during this quarter, on prudence, we have recognised a charge of Rs 194.4 billion as an exceptional item towards the total estimated AGR liability, in addition to estimated recognised liability of Rs 460.0 billion as on March 31, 2020," a company statement said.

The company said that the first quarter numbers were impacted by the nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus.

Ravinder Takkar, the MD and CEO of Vodafone Idea, said, "Q1FY21 was a challenging quarter as availability of recharges due to store closure and ability of customers to recharge on account of economic slowdown were impacted.