AGR dues: DoT likely to send notice to Tata Teleservices soon; SC to hear telecom players' pleas on 17 March

A week after Tata Teleservices paid Rs 2,197 crore to the government to settle AGR dues, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) may issue a notice to Tata Teleservices (TTSL) before 17 March demanding payment of balance adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, said a news report.

TTSL is yet to submit enough details regarding its self-assessment of dues and these will need to be provided, said a report in The Economic Times, quoting officials in the know of the matter. “We have more than fairly assessed ourselves and paid what we know are more than fair dues to the government. We are hoping that the subject will be closed,” the report quoted a senior Tata executive close to developments as saying. [caption id=“attachment_7758981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Image source: Getty Images.[/caption] The Supreme Court will hear the modification pleas llfiled by telecom operators namely Tata Teleservices, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel on the AGR ruling, on 17 March, the report said. Last week, the DoT had said that notices would be sent to Tata Teleservices for recovery of full dues in a day or two. The company had paid Rs 2,197 crore to the government on Monday, while DoT’s calculations pegs the outstanding amount at over Rs 14,000 crore after the Supreme Court coming down heavily on telecom firms. In January this year, it was reported that Tata Sons might pay the mandatory dues that its subsidiary Tata Teleservices owes to the DoT. The parent company reportedly initiated the process for arranging funds even as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the modification petition filed by five non-telecom companies this week, said a news report. Tata Sons may depend on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for funds to pay the AGR dues of Rs 13,823 crore owed by the group’s telecom subsidiary, Tata Teleservices. The holding company’s finance team is searching for funds from other sources as well in case of a crisis. Earlier, Tata Sons was trying to raise around Rs 14,000 crore from banks and through internal accruals to pay the AGR dues of Tata Teleservices before the 23 January deadline. Early this month, Tata Teleservices had said DoT approved the merger of its consumer mobile business with Bharti Airtel, reported PTI. Tata Teleservices’ listed arm said in a regulatory filing that the DoT through its letter dated 6 February 2020 has conveyed approval of the competent authority in DoT for taking on record the demerger of its consumer mobile business undertaking into Bharti Airtel Limited (BAL). The apex court had on 24 October last year ordered that non-telecom revenues should be included in the AGR for calculating statutory dues such as license fee and spectrum charges. The DoT calculated that Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and others owe as much as Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues, including penalties and interest, while non-telecom firms, who had taken some licence from it, owed another Rs 2.65 lakh crore. —With inputs from agencies