New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Thursday termed as totally impermissible' the demand by Department of Telecom for dues of Rs 4 lakh crore in Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) from PSUs and said DoT must consider withdrawing it.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah raised questions on the demand raised by the government from the PSUs and said that its verdict in the case was misinterpreted as the issue of their dues based on AGR was not dealt with by the apex court.
This is wholly and totally impermissible, the bench said, while referring to the demand raised against the PSUs.
The bench also asked private telecom operators to submit affidavits in the court explaining the amount of revenue they are earning and suggesting their plan to clear their outstanding dues for Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) charges.
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Giving relief to the telecom comapnies, the bench also said that they would consider to grant more time to the companies for payment but they must clear the due amounting to 1.5 lakh crores.
"We want to make sure money comes to the government. Find out from clients about bank guarantees, undertakings etc," SC told the lawyers appearing for different telecom companies.
Bharti Airtel told the top court that it has paid 70 per cent dues as per its own calculations and the rest would be cleared after consulting the government. Where as Vodafone Idea said that the total demand of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues it faces is Rs 50,000 crore, plus the interest and the penalty, but currently, the telecom company does not even have enough money to pay salaries to its employees and meet its expenses.
The bench of Justices asked the firms as to what was the guarantee that they would clear the dues in the 20-year time-frame being sought by the government.
It questioned the telecom companies whether they were ready to give bank guarantee or directors are prepared to issue personal guarantee or any other security can be furnished because the court cannot allow such staggered payments of dues.
The next hearing on the matter is scheduled on June 18.
On May 18, the top court had lashed out at Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other mobile phone operators for self-assessing their outstanding telecom dues, saying they need to pay past dues with interest and penalty -- an estimated amount of Rs 1.6 lakh crore.
The apex court had also came down heavily on the DoT for allowing companies to re-assess what they owed to the government, and said its order -- passed on October 24, 2019 -- on revenues for calculating dues was final.
(With PTI Inputs)
