India News | SC Rejects Pleas of Telecom Majors over 'errors' in Calculation of Dues
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. In a setback to telecom majors including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the Supreme Court has refused to review its 2021 order rejecting their pleas for rectification of alleged errors in calculation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues payable by them.
New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) In a setback to telecom majors including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the Supreme Court has refused to review its 2021 order rejecting their pleas for rectification of alleged errors in calculation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues payable by them.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Abhay S Oka and Sanjay Kumar dismissed the pleas seeking review of the 2021 order in-chambers on January 28.
On July 23, 2021, the apex court dismissed their applications seeking rectification of the alleged errors in calculation of AGR dues.
"Prayer for oral arguments by listing the review petitions in open court is rejected. We have carefully perused the review petitions as also the grounds in support thereof," the bench said.
The bench went on to add, "No case for review of the order dated July 23, 2021 passed in miscellaneous applications is made out. The review petitions are, accordingly, dismissed. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of."
The telecom companies had argued that arithmetical errors in the calculation be rectified and there were cases of duplication of entries.
The top court in September 2020 fixed a time frame of 10 years for telecom service providers struggling to pay Rs 93,520 crore of AGR related dues to clear their outstanding amount to the government.
In its September 2020 order, the apex court said that telecom operators should make the payment of 10 per cent of the total dues as demanded by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) by March 31, 2021 and the rest amount would be paid in yearly instalments commencing from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2031.
The top court, which held the demand raised by the DoT with respect to AGR dues as final, said there should neither be a dispute raised by the telecom companies nor any re-assessment.
The apex court in October 2019 delivered its verdict on the AGR issue.
The DoT moved a plea in the top court asking for a staggered payment of the dues by telecos over 20 years.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)