Telecom giant Vodafone Idea Limited has approached the Supreme Court to dismiss the additional AGR dues demand for the period up to FY 2016-17. The company has filed a new petition asking the Department of Telecommunications to thoroughly re-evaluate and settle all AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016-17 in accordance with the deduction verification guidelines issued on February 3, 2020.
It has requested an early hearing on its petition filed on September 8. Meanwhile, the Department of Telecommunications has raised an additional demand of Rs 2,774 crore for the fiscal year 2018-19, which the company is challenging. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to review its 2021 order, marking a setback for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
The Court had rejected petitions to correct errors in calculating the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues owed by the companies. In September 2020, the Court set a 10-year deadline for telecom service providers struggling to pay Rs 93,520 crore related to AGR to settle their dues to the government.