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AGR Dues: Supreme Court Rejects Vodafone’s Proposal To Pay Rs 2,500 Crore Today

Vodafone offered to pay Rs 2,500 crore today and a Rs 1,000 crore by Friday against total AGR dues of over Rs 53,000 crore.

Signage for Vodafone Group Plc is displayed outside a Vodafone India store in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
Signage for Vodafone Group Plc is displayed outside a Vodafone India store in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Vodafone's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore by end of the day and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday against adjusted gross revenue dues, while also refusing its plea that no coercive action be taken against it.

An apex court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal given by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter. Rohatgi said they are willing to pay Rs 2,500 crore today and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday but no coercive action be taken against the company. He urged that Vodafone's bank guarantee deposited with the government should also not be encashed.

The top court had on Friday warned of contempt proceedings against top executives of Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone Idea and other telecom firms for failing to comply with its directive to pay an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in AGR dues, and asked whether there was no law left in the country.

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After the Supreme Court rap, the government came down heavily on telecom firms. Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department towards AGR dues. The company said it will pay the balance amount after completion of a self-assessment exercise.

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"The...amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, and Telenor," the Sunil Mittal-led company said in a statement.