AGR dues: Supreme Court lashes out at DoT, telcos; says must pay all dues

The Supreme Court on Wednesday once again came down heavily on the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which had filed a petition seeking relief for telcos in paying the dues linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR). The court shot down the DoT proposal that telecom companies might be permitted a 20-year staggered payment and exemption from penalties and interest in relation to the AGR dues.

A Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S A Nazeer, and M R Shah refused to take up the Centre’s plea for allowing telecom firms to pay the AGR dues in 20 years, saying the application would be taken up after two weeks. The court was also critical of the companies for trying to evade the payment, while pulling up the media for not reporting facts as they were.