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Airtel considers filing curative petition on AGR
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SME Times News Bureau | 16 Jan, 2020
Moments after the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed review petitions
by telcos challenging its verdict in the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR)
case, Bharti Airtel said it is considering filing a curative petition in
the matter.
Curative petition is the last constitutional remedy
available to a person whose review petition has been dismissed by the
Supreme Court.
The telecom major in a statement expressed
disappointment and noted that the AGR dues would further impact the
industry which is already reeling under a severe financial stress.
"While
respecting the Supreme Court's decision, we would like to express our
disappointment as we believe the long standing disputes raised regarding
the AGR definition were bonafide and genuine," Bharti Airtel said. The
industry needs to continue to invest in expanding networks, acquiring
spectrum and introducing new technologies like 5G, it said, adding that
the money now required to pay -- punitive interest, penalty and interest
on penalty -- which forms nearly 75 per cent of AGR dues, would have
better served the digital mission of the country.
"We are evaluating filing a curative petition," the statement added.
A
bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising Justices S.A. Nazeer
and M.R. Shah found no merit in the review petitions and dismissed it.
The final deadline for the telecom companies to pay Rs 1.47 lakh is on January 23.
The
Telecom Ministry in November told Parliament that telcos owe nearly Rs
1.47 lakh crore in license fee (LF) and spectrum usage charges (SUC).
The
total amount is split in two halves -- license fee comes to Rs 92,642
crore as of July 2019 and SUC comes to Rs 55,054 crore as of October
2019.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea hold the majority of these liabilities, which emerge from these dues.
For
Bharti Airtel, dues are around Rs 35,586 crore -- Rs 21,682 crore as LF
and Rs 13,904 crore as SUC and for Vodafone Idea the dues amount to Rs
53,038 crore, of which Rs 28,309 crore in LF and Rs 24,730 crore in SUC.
Airtel
has raised $3 billion through a qualified institutional placement (QIP)
and an overseas bond to repay the government dues. While Vodafone Idea
Ltd has changed the terms of its rights issue to partly use the proceeds
for the AGR dues.
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