: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on the schedule of the phased payment of assessed contributions related to adjusted gross income (AGR) by telecommunications operators, including Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices. Both Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have requested a 15-year window to eliminate quotas, while Tata Teleservices has searched for 7-10 years.
The court also ordered the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to file the details of the insolvency proceedings of bankrupt telecommunications companies Reliance Communications (RCom), Aircel and Videocon Telecom within seven days.
A bank headed by Judge Arun Mishra noted that RCom has huge unpaid AGR fees, and the high court will examine whether the insolvency proceedings are in good faith. The court will address the issue of insolvency proceedings on August 10.
“Several telecommunications companies with AGR quotas of more than ₹ 38,000 crores are currently in liquidation. It is necessary to ensure that IBC (Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code) is not being misused by telecommunications companies to escape liability, "said Mishra.
The higher court reiterated that "there is no room for self-assessment" and telecom companies have to treat AGR quotas calculated by the DoT as final. However, the government wants telecommunications companies to be given a term to pay the fees to avoid insolvency.
The court also expressed doubts about Vodafone Idea's ability to settle the fees, asking how to "trust" the company's payment over a period given its financial position. The telecommunications company has now sought 15 years to pay the fees compared to 20 years before, accepting fees worth Rs 58.254 billion estimated by the DoT.
Mukul Rohatgi, representing Vodafone Idea, said all the proceeds have been spent on liabilities, taxes and fees, with more than $ 1 trillion of capital contributed by the eroding developers. Vodafone Idea mentioned the refund of the goods and services tax (GST) of around Rs 8,000 million, which the telecommunications company said the government may withhold.
"All of the company's net worth (Vodafone Idea) has been wiped out in the past 15 years ... Of the total revenue of $ 6.27 billion earned in the past 10 years, $ 4.95 billion has been spent on expenses," said Rohatgi. he said to the SC.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a lawyer for Bharti Airtel, said the DoT wrongly calculated its quotas worth Rs 43.78 billion, which include spectrum usage charges (SUC). Singhvi said AGR fees do not involve SUC but only license fees.
Vodafone Idea shares finished 1.8% at ₹ 9.04, while Bharti Airtel shares rose 1.5% to ₹ 575.75 on BSE. The Sensex benchmark index stood at 37,418.99 points, more than 1% from the previous close.
On October 24, the trial court upheld AGT's broader definition of the DoT and ordered telecommunications companies to pay liens based on that definition, along with interest on the amount of the principal and the fine. DoT calculates levies as SUC and AGR-based license fees.
The court ordered 15 telecommunications companies, including those that closed their operations, to pay Rs 1.47 trillion in AGR installments within three months.
On Friday, Vodafone Idea paid the DoT another ₹ 1 billion rupees as part of its AGR-related fees, bringing the total payments from the embattled telecoms operator to ₹ 7,854 million rupees.
According to Bharti Airtel's self-assessment, he owes Rs 13.00 million to the DoT. The telecom company has already paid this amount along with an additional Rs 5 billion in ad-hoc payments subject to reimbursement after the DoT reconciles its own estimates with those of the telecom company.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has already paid ₹ 195 crore to the DoT, settling its installments until January 31, 202
The court also ordered the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to file the details of the insolvency proceedings of bankrupt telecommunications companies Reliance Communications (RCom), Aircel and Videocon Telecom within seven days.
A bank headed by Judge Arun Mishra noted that RCom has huge unpaid AGR fees, and the high court will examine whether the insolvency proceedings are in good faith. The court will address the issue of insolvency proceedings on August 10.
“Several telecommunications companies with AGR quotas of more than ₹ 38,000 crores are currently in liquidation. It is necessary to ensure that IBC (Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code) is not being misused by telecommunications companies to escape liability, "said Mishra.
The higher court reiterated that "there is no room for self-assessment" and telecom companies have to treat AGR quotas calculated by the DoT as final. However, the government wants telecommunications companies to be given a term to pay the fees to avoid insolvency.
The court also expressed doubts about Vodafone Idea's ability to settle the fees, asking how to "trust" the company's payment over a period given its financial position. The telecommunications company has now sought 15 years to pay the fees compared to 20 years before, accepting fees worth Rs 58.254 billion estimated by the DoT.
Mukul Rohatgi, representing Vodafone Idea, said all the proceeds have been spent on liabilities, taxes and fees, with more than $ 1 trillion of capital contributed by the eroding developers. Vodafone Idea mentioned the refund of the goods and services tax (GST) of around Rs 8,000 million, which the telecommunications company said the government may withhold.
"All of the company's net worth (Vodafone Idea) has been wiped out in the past 15 years ... Of the total revenue of $ 6.27 billion earned in the past 10 years, $ 4.95 billion has been spent on expenses," said Rohatgi. he said to the SC.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a lawyer for Bharti Airtel, said the DoT wrongly calculated its quotas worth Rs 43.78 billion, which include spectrum usage charges (SUC). Singhvi said AGR fees do not involve SUC but only license fees.
Vodafone Idea shares finished 1.8% at ₹ 9.04, while Bharti Airtel shares rose 1.5% to ₹ 575.75 on BSE. The Sensex benchmark index stood at 37,418.99 points, more than 1% from the previous close.
On October 24, the trial court upheld AGT's broader definition of the DoT and ordered telecommunications companies to pay liens based on that definition, along with interest on the amount of the principal and the fine. DoT calculates levies as SUC and AGR-based license fees.
The court ordered 15 telecommunications companies, including those that closed their operations, to pay Rs 1.47 trillion in AGR installments within three months.
On Friday, Vodafone Idea paid the DoT another ₹ 1 billion rupees as part of its AGR-related fees, bringing the total payments from the embattled telecoms operator to ₹ 7,854 million rupees.
According to Bharti Airtel's self-assessment, he owes Rs 13.00 million to the DoT. The telecom company has already paid this amount along with an additional Rs 5 billion in ad-hoc payments subject to reimbursement after the DoT reconciles its own estimates with those of the telecom company.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has already paid ₹ 195 crore to the DoT, settling its installments until January 31, 202
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