AGR order: Telcos seek interest, penalty waiver, 10 years to pay principal

Jolted by the Supreme Court ruling on statutory dues calculation, telecom companies have sent an SOS to the government seeking a waiver of interest and penalties on the unpaid amount, as well as staggering payment of principal licence fee over 10 years, sources said.

Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal and his brother Rajan Mittal had on Monday met Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash in the aftermath of the October 24 Supreme Court order that accepted government’s way of calculating revenues of the companies, based on which statutory dues to exchequer are calculated.