'Misconceived': SC junks pleas by Airtel, Vodafone for waiver of AGR dues

NEW DELHI: In a setback to Airtel and Vodafone Idea, Supreme Court on Monday dismissed their plea for waiver of interest and penalty relating to adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, which are to the tune of Rs 80,000 crore.

The order will also impact Tata Teleservices.

The outstanding AGR following the original SC ruling in 2019 to recover dues from the industry stands at a little under Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Only Reliance Jio came out near-safe as it ventured into telecom in 2016 and had a small exposure to past dues and adjustments.

Though the companies sought an adjournment, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan turned down their plea and dismissed their petitions, which it said were "shocking and misconceived". The court also asked how multinational companies had filed petitions under Article 32 (seeking remedies for enforcement of rights).