Vodafone Idea Seeks Rs 30,000-Crore AGR Relief In Fresh Plea To Supreme Court

Vodafone Idea Ltd. has filed a fresh petition in the Supreme Court seeking relief of more than Rs 30,000 crore in connection with the adjusted gross revenue dues. The court is likely to hear the case on May 19.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone Idea, informed the court that the petition is in the process of being filed and requested an early listing, citing the significant impact of the issue on the telecom sector and consumers at large.

Rohatgi further mentioned before the apex court bench that the survival of the telecom company is an integral part of maintaining healthy competition within the sector.

Currently, the government owns 49% of the company, which is a result of recent conversion of interest dues into equity.

However, this is not the first time that the top court of the country is dealing with AGR dues. The Department of Telecom had earlier moved a plea before the court seeking directions to telecom companies to pay AGR dues over a period of 20 years.

While the judgement on AGR dues came in the year 2019, the court fixed a period of 10 years for the companies to comply in 2020. The year after that saw some back and forth where telcos alleged arithmetic irregularities in calculating the dues, while the court dismissed these claims.

Finally, in July 2024, Vodafone filed a curative petition before the Supreme Court in the AGR dues case but the same was dismissed in September 2024.