Vodafone Idea pays another tranche of AGR dues to government; Rs 7,854 crore paid so far

Telecom company Vodafone Idea on Friday further paid Rs 1,000 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) towards the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, according to the latest regulatory filing. The latest tranche took the total payment amount to Rs 7,854 crore up from Rs 6,854 crore paid by Vodafone Idea earlier in three tranches.

“In line with the above, the company has yesterday (July 17, 2020) paid a further sum of Rs 1,000 crore to the DoT (Department of Telecom) towards the AGR dues,” the company said in the filing. Supreme Court in the last hearing held on June 18, 2020 had “requested (telecom operators) to make payments of reasonable amount also to show their bonafides, before the next date of hearing.” Nonetheless, Vodafone Idea saw its consolidated revenue rise 6 per cent in Q4 FY20 to Rs 11,754 crore on a sequential basis while the consolidated Ebitda increased 28 per cent to Rs 4,380 crore even as its APRU increased 11 per cent to Rs 121 vis-à-vis Rs 109 in Q3. Despite a decent show, Vodafone Idea was looking at massive AGR dues worth Rs 58,000 crore.