The Supreme Court on Monday postponed to October 27 the hearing of a plea filed by Vodafone Idea Ltd. challenging the additional adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demands raised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for the period up to the financial year 2016–17.
A Bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran adjourned the matter after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central government, requested that the hearing be deferred. “List it on the first day after Diwali break,” the Bench directed.
Vodafone Idea has sought quashing of the additional AGR demand, contending that the claims pertain to the pre-2016–17 period that had already been settled in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment on AGR dues. The company also urged the Court to direct the DoT to reassess and reconcile all dues under the Deduction Verification Guidelines issued on February 3, 2020.
The petition alleged that DoT’s action in raising fresh demands was “arbitrary, unjust, and contrary to the Supreme Court’s earlier rulings”, which had already crystallised the payable amounts. It argued that while the DoT raised additional demands, Vodafone Idea was not being “permitted to seek correction assessments” that included duplicate entries and repeated additions and thrust upon it.
In its October 2019 judgment, the top court had directed telecom operators to pay AGR dues calculated as per its interpretation of the revenue-sharing formula. Subsequently, in September 2020, the Court allowed telecom companies 10 years to clear their dues, requiring 10 per cent of the total to be paid annually, beginning March 31, 2021.
In July 2021, the apex court dismissed pleas by telecom majors — including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea — seeking rectification of alleged errors in DoT’s computation of AGR dues.