Vodafone Idea Slips 9% After Supreme Court Hearing On AGR Dues

On Tuesday, shares of Vodafone Idea fell close to 9 percent to Rs 8.20 apiece after the Supreme Court reserved the order on the time to be provided to telcos for the repayment of their AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues.

On 20 July, the apex court heard the plea by telecom companies to allow staggered repayment of their huge AGR dues. The three-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and MR Shah said that the calculations on AGR dues by the Department of Telecom (DoT) are to be treated as final, adding that there is no scope for any "self-assessment" or re-calculation of said dues.

The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for 10 August.

The court expressed doubt over Vodafone Idea's ability to clear the dues over a period given its financial position. The telco has sought 15 years to pay the dues versus 20 years earlier, accepting dues worth Rs 58,254 crore estimated by the telecom department.

However, the government wants that the telcos be granted a timeline for payment of dues to avoid insolvency.

Last week, Vodafone Idea had paid another Rs 1,000 crore to the DoT as part of its AGR dues, taking the beleaguered telecom operator's total payments till date to Rs 7,854 crore.