Vi AGR relief applies only to the troubled telco: SC order

In its petition, Vi had challenged DoT’s fresh demand of ₹9,450 cr for the years up to 2018-19

- Krishna Yadav & Jatin Grover

The Supreme Court’s 27 October order permitting the Centre to address Vodafone Idea Ltd’s grievances and reassess its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues applies solely to the beleaguered telecom operator, clarifies the top court's written order.

The written order, seen by Mint, makes it clear that the court's observations apply only to the additional AGR demand raised by the department of telecommunications (DoT) for the period up to 2016-17, given the peculiar circumstances in which the Centre now owns 49% of the telco, which serves nearly 200 million consumers.

“We clarify that this is a matter falling within the policy domain of the Union of India and if, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the Union of India, keeping in view the larger public interest, desires to reconsider the issue, there is no reason to restrain or prevent it from doing so,” the bench of chief justice B.R. Gavai and justice K. Vinod Chandran noted in the written order.