The Supreme Court<\/a> has ordered telos to pay their adjusted gross revenue (AGR<\/a>) dues over the next 10 years till March 2031, dealing a big blow to Vodafone Idea<\/a>, whose shares tanked 20% after the verdict was pronounced.
The apex court also ordered the bankruptcy court to decide on whether airwaves can be subject to insolvency proceedings This issue came to the forefront when the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) highlighted that bankrupt telcos have not paid AGR dues of Rs 40,000 crore.
A three-judge bench led by Justice Arun Mishra, comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and MR Shah has asked all telcos to clear their AGR dues upwards of Rrs 1.6 lakh crore within the next 10 years. Telcos though need to pay 10% of their upfront by March 31. They have to pay the instalments by February 7 every year to meet March 31 deadlines annually, till 2031.
Shares of cash strapped Vodafone Idea tanked by 14.92% on the BSE within minutes of the judgement to trade at Rs 8.67 a piece. Shares of Airtel<\/a>, with a stronger balance sheet, however jumped nearly 6%.
The bench has asked MDs and chairmen of telcos to submit affidavits, existing bank guarantees to be kept alive and ensure that annual installments are paid, failing which contempt proceedings will begin.
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