Vodafone Idea Shares Fall Almost 40% After SC Rejects AGR Verdict Review

Shares of Vodafone Idea declined as much as 39.2 percent on Friday to an intraday low of Rs 3.65 on NSE. The slump comes after the Supreme Court rejected Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel's review petitions against the AGR verdict on Thursday.

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However, shares of Bharti Airtel rose by 5.2 percent to Rs 498.75 on hopes of the potential fall of Vodafone Idea in the telecom business on mounting dues.

Following the apex court's 24 October verdict, which was in favour of the Department of Telecom to include all revenue accruing from telcos constitute to AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue), Vodafone Idea warned that it will have to shut shop if relief wasn't provided.

The telecom operator was the most hit among others with estimated dues of over Rs 53,000 crore to the DoT after AGR definition was to include licence fee and spectrum usage charges. These companies will also have to pay interest and penalties on the dues.

Vodafone Idea may approach the Supreme Court for an extension of deadline to meet its obligations.

Reliance Jio, the top player in the Indian telecom business was not affected by the verdict as it had not commenced operations when the case was first filed. Shares of its parent company RIL were trading 1.97 percent higher at Rs 1,567.45.