Delhi HC lets Bharti Airtel claim GST refund of ₹923 crore

NEW DELHI : The Delhi high court on Tuesday allowed Bharti Airtel Ltd to claim goods and services tax (GST) refund of ₹923 crore by rectifying its returns for the September quarter of 2017.

The court’s decision comes at a time the telecom sector is passing through a troubled phase with cutthroat tariffs and intense competition, though things have eased a bit with covid-19-induced work from home causing a spurt in data consumption across India.

The company had excess input tax credits but could not use them to adjust its final tax liability because of regulatory and technology-related uncertainties at the time of India’s transition to the new indirect tax regime in 2017. Curbs on adjusting past tax return filings after excess input tax credits were noticed prevented Bharti Airtel from claiming the benefit so far.