Airtel’s petition comes within days of rival Vodafone Idea (Vi) moving SC to get the top court to look into the alleged calculation errors by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which have impacted the duo the most.
Bharti Airtel (Airtel) has moved the Supreme Court (SC) with a review petition against an earlier order that did not allow rectification of “arithmetical errors” in the calculation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
“Airtel filed its review petition in SC on Thursday,” said a person aware of the development.
Airtel’s petition comes within days of rival Vodafone Idea (Vi) moving SC to get the top court to look into the alleged calculation errors by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which have impacted the duo the most.
Airtel did not respond to ET’s queries. Shares of Airtel closed Rs 622.75, down by 0.57% on the BSE on Thursday.
The battle between the telcos -mainly Vi and Airtel versus DoT over AGR dues reached a flash point in 2019 when SC widened the scope of AGR to include non-telecom items, leaving Airtel and specially Vi with huge dues. ET has not seen the petition copy.
The AGR matter was resurrected in January, when Airtel moved the apex court seeking a modification, clarification or recall of “mistaken orders”, which have allowed the DoT to demand a total of Rs 43,980 crore as AGR dues.
According to the telco’s own estimates, Airtel owes the DoT Rs 13,004 crore but has already paid Rs18,000 crore.
The telco in its January plea, had said the errors in the DoT’s calculations of the AGR dues stem from duplication in revenue addition, incorrect interest rate for calculating spectrum usage charges (SUC), payments made by the telco not factored in, amongst others.
However, much to Airtel’s disappointment, SC again rejected its appeal on July 23.
The second largest telco’s latest move comes at a time when rival Vi informed the highest court that it is a “travesty of justice” and “inconceivable” that the errors were not allowed to be corrected. DoT has raised AGR dues at Rs 58,254 crore, of which it has paid Rs 7,854 crore. Vi’s own calculations put the AGR dues at Rs21,300 crore, which like in case of Airtel was disallowed by the top court in July.
Airtel posted a net profit of Rs 284 crore in the fiscal first quarter and AGR dues have not dealt a body blow like they did to Vi. However Covid-19 has impacted the operator as well and a reduction in statutory dues will definitely help the operator to compete more closely with Reliance Jio.
If the review petition is rejected again , then the telco has the option to go for a curative appeal. Vi has said it will opt for one.
With Vi and Airtel moving SC, there are high chances that Tata Teleservices too will follow suit. It has AGR dues of Rs 16,798 crore, of which it has paid Rs 4,197 crore.
