AGR dues: Bharti Airtel defers payment up to FY19 after DoT’s moratorium offer

The telco said that it has retained the right to pre-pay instalment amounts and would not avail the option of conversion of the interest dues that would accrue into equity. The AGR dues are not tabulated in the Supreme Court’s order, by up to four years, it added.

“We wish to inform you that the company has informed to DoT (Department of Telecom) that the company shall avail the option to defer the payment of the AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) dues up to FY 2018-19 which are not tabulated in the Hon’ble Supreme Court order, up to four years (applicable from FY 2021-22 to FY 2024-25) while retaining the right to pre-pay the instalment amounts,” Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing on 30 June.

Apart from this, the firm made it clear that it will “not avail the option of conversion of the interest dues that accrue under aforesaid option into equity”. The amount of dues add up to about ₹3,000 crore for the additional years, said sources at the firm.

In its statement, Airtel said that the Department of Telecom had offered the option of four-year moratorium for AGR dues up to FY 2018-19 which are not tabulated in the Supreme Court order pertaining to statutory dues as well as for the conversion of the interest dues that accrue into equity.

As per details, the DoT calculates its share of revenue from telecom operators based on their AGR, which is considered to have been earned by them from the sale of services.

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Earlier in June, debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) decided to defer payment of additional AGR dues of ₹8,837 crore by a period of four years.

In a filing on 22 June, VIL said DoT, on 15 June, raised AGR demand for additional two financial years beyond 2016-17, which were not covered under the Supreme Court order on the statutory dues.

“The board of directors “has approved the exercise of the option of deferment of the AGR related dues by a period of four years with immediate effect, in accordance with the said DoT letter,” VIL statement had said.

“The amount of the AGR related dues as stated in the said DoT letter is ₹8,837 crore, which is subject to revision on account of disposal of various representations,” it had said.

With PTI Inputs.

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