The Supreme Court has reserved orders on pleas made by telecom majors for a chance to place their grievances about arithmetical errors in the calculation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues before the Department of Telecom (DoT).
Background:
The Supreme Court in September 2020 had granted 10 years to telecom firms for paying the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR)-related dues to the DoT with certain conditions.
The SC asked telcos to pay 10 per cent of the AGR-related dues by March 31, 2021.
About AGR:
Telecom operators are required to pay licence fee and spectrum charges in the form of ‘revenue share’ to the Centre.
The revenue amount used to calculate this revenue share is termed as the AGR.
According to the DoT, the calculations should incorporate all revenues earned by a telecom company – including from non-telecom sources such as deposit interests and sale of assets.
The companies, however, have been of the view that AGR should comprise the revenues generated from telecom services only and non-telecom revenues should be kept out of it.