New Delhi: Supreme Court directed telecom operators to file a roadmap of the payment of the AGR dues, the time allowed for payment, and the securities they can provide, in the next five days.
The apex court also said the demand of Rs 4 lakh crore against PSUs (public sector units) was impermissible and should be reconsidered, as imposing AGR dues on PSUs (public sector units) may not be in public interest.
AGR: Supreme Court Asks Govt To Withdraw Demands On Dues Against PSUs
The Supreme Court questioned the government on how telecom demands were made on PSUs and why such demands were not made for 30 years but only after its verdict on AGR last year.
In October 2019, the long dispute between telecom operators and the Department of Telecom was settled by the Supreme Court, where the verdict was in favour of DoT to widen the definition of AGR to include non-core items. License fees and spectrum usage charges are calculated on the basis of AGR. Some 15 telecom companies owed around Rs 1.69 lakh crore to the government as AGR dues because of the verdict.
