The Supreme Court will hear the government's rescue plan of giving telcos a 20-year repayment period for AGR dues during the next hearing scheduled after two weeks.
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Group's self-assessment of dues to the government are a whopping Rs 82,300 crore short of what the telecom department calculated after the Supreme Court's ruling on AGR.
Vodafone Idea plunged 40 per cent to Rs 2.91 and Bharti Airtel declined 5 per cent to Rs 431.25 on the BSE. Both the companies erased their early gains and were trading with losses.
In February, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had initiated contempt proceedings against Deshpande who had passed a notification stating no coercive action should be taken against the telecom companies for not sticking to the apex court's stipulated January 23 payment deadline.
The petition said that the Centre is dealing with the telecom service providers and it has found that telcos who are required to make the payments are catering to crores of consumers throughout the country.
Loss-making telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Monday said it has made an additional payment of Rs 3,354 crore towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to the Department of Telecom (DoT), thereby completing payment of principal amount calculated on a self-assessment basis.
The comment assumes significance as the government on March 4 had asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies to pay the remaining adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay.
The government has received part payment of about Rs 25,900 crore from telecom operators towards statutory dues and has again directed telcos to make full payments, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
Vodafone Idea on Friday said its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liabilities stand at Rs 21,533 crore as per its self assessment, and that the calculation of dues has been filed with the telecom department.
The government on Wednesday asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies to pay remaining AGR dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay, according to sources.
The government has detached gas utility GAIL India, explorer Oil India and other PSUs from a Supreme Court order that had led to Rs 1.47 lakh crore being sought from telecom firms such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea in past dues, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio on Tuesday paid cumulative over Rs 6,000 crore to the government towards deferred spectrum dues while Tatas said it has deposited another Rs 2,000 crore for ad hoc statutory liabilities.
Tatas have made an additional payment of about Rs 2,000 crore to the telecom department on ad hoc basis towards their AGR liabilities, a source said.
The "test checks" as promised by the government on AGR-hit telecom companies' dues assessment could start this week for large telcos, according to a senior DoT official.
Vodafone Idea has demanded fixing minimum tariffs for mobile data at Rs 35 per GB, around 7-8 times of current prices, and for calls at 6 paise per minute along with monthly charges from April 1 to enable it pay statutory dues and make its business sustainable.
Telecom firm Vodafone-Idea Thursday said that it is not a "sound financial state" and sought help from the government over the pending AGR dues. The troubled company has written to the telecom department expressing its inability to pay full AGR dues unless the government takes urgent measures.
Emerging from the meeting which lasted for over 30 minutes, Chandrasekaran declined to comment on the details of his discussion.
With the telecom firms staring at a massive Rs 1.47 lakh crore of AGR dues, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar on Monday said "nobody wants to kill the sector". The state-owned bank is yet to hear from the government on the issue, he said, when asked if it has sought views from bankers.
Telecom companies' unpaid licence fees amount to Rs 22,589 crore, while interest and penalties took the total liability to Rs 92,641 crore, sources said.
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal on Thursday met Telecom Minister as AGR issue looms large on his company. After his meeting, Mittal described AGR crisis as "unprecedented" for Indian Telecom industry. Airtel has until March 17 to pay Rs 35,600 crore to the government as part of (Adjusted Gross Revenue) payment.
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