On September 1st, 2020, the Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra granted the telecom firms like Vodafone Idea, Tata Teleservices and Bharti Airtel, 10 years to pay the Adjusted Gross Revenue dues to the Department of Telecommunications dismissing the plea of payment over 20 years. However, the apex court has attached certain conditions, viz.:
- There shall be no reassessment with respect to AGRs.
- The court has directed the telecos to pay 10% of the dues by 31st March, 2021.
- The Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of the telecos have also been directed to furnish their undertakings or personal guarantees within four weeks of payment of dues.
- Payment has to be made in yearly instalments commencing from 01.04.2021 up till 31.03.2031.
- Failure of any annual payment will attract interest payable as per agreement, penalty, interest on penalty and punishment for contempt of court.
Source: The Asian Age
