Irrational demand

Licence-linked dues from non-telcos should be reviewed

The Supreme Court order defining telecom revenue has landed a number of non-telecom companies in the soup because they are saddled with a demand of close to Rs 3 trillion. These companies will have to pay licence-linked dues based on their overall revenues, which have very little to do with telecom, after the apex court, in an order in October last year, upheld the government’s definition of adjusted gross revenues (AGR) for telecom licensees. AGR is the revenue amount used to calculate the licence fee and spectrum charges paid by telecom companies to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). As a