Staggered AGR payment hits Centre’s telecom revenue in FY21

The government has sharply lowered its estimate for revenue collection from the telecom sector in the Union Budget. It has revised the estimate to ₹33,737 crore from ₹1.33 trillion pegged for the current financial year ending March. This is mainly because telecom operators were allowed to make staggered payment of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability, which the Centre had accounted for in revenue receipts for the year.

The Supreme Court in September allowed telcos 10 years to pay their AGR dues, including penalty, interest, and interest on penalty. It ordered 10% upfront payment of the total dues, while the rest is to be paid in ten annual instalments starting from 1 April, 2021.

“Telecom receipts estimates for FY21 are sharply revised down from ₹1.33 trillion to ₹34,000 crore (approx.) largely due to staggering of ₹1.1 trillion AGR repayment,” said a telecom analyst, requesting anonymity.