In a setback to Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) informed the Supreme Court that the AGR payments made by telcos cannot be said to be full and final and that the government will await the court order to calculate final AGR liability on traded/shared spectrum.
In an affidavit filed before the hearing on Monday, the DoT further said that adjusted gross revenue (AGR) is based on entire revenue generated by a telco and is not dependent only on revenue from spectrum, the Economic Times reported on Monday.
The affidavit comes as a setback for Jio and Airtel who have insisted that they can not be forced to take on the AGR liabilities of bankrupt telcos they had shared and/or traded spectrum with.
Last Tuesday, Reliance Jio told the Supreme Court that it has already paid Rs 195 crore in AGR-related dues which included spectrum sharing charge of Reliance Communications (RCom). It said there is no question of one operator paying the AGR-related dues of another firm, as suggested by the apex court.
After the top court had rejected pleas by Vodafone Idea, Airtel and Tata Teleservices seeking review of the judgement which widened the definition of AGR by including non-telecom revenues, the DoT had in March moved a plea seeking staggered payment over 20 years.
