SC dismisses curative pleas by telcos against AGR dues

The Supreme Court has rejected curative petitions seeking a review of its 2019 judgment on adjusted gross revenues (AGR) payable by telecom firms.

- BHAVINI MISHRA & SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY

The judgment had permitted the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) to include all non-telecom revenue in AGR.

The curative petitions had been put up by the telcos as a last legal resort to reduce their burden of ₹1.43 trillion in AGR, which was based on a subsequent judgment in 2020. Of this, nearly 75 per cent comprised interest, penalties, and interest on penalties.

The government was to get ₹92,461 crore as licence fees and ₹55,000 crore as spectrum usage charges.

In 2020, the court directed the telcos to pay a penalty and penal interest in the case of default, besides being liable to contempt of court proceedings. The telcos had subsequently pushed for the penalty to be limited to 50 per cent of the pending dues, and an interest rate on the penalty to be lowered to 2 per cent above the State Bank of India's prime lending rate. The latest ruling reaffirms the stance that no revaluation or correction will be allowed for AGR, the consolidated figures for which are not known.

The Bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, and judges Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai, in their order of August 30, which was made public on Thursday, rejected the hearing of the curative petition in open court and dismissed the pleas.