‘Test checks’ on AGR-hit telcos’ dues assessment may start this week: DoT

The “test checks” as promised by the government on AGR-hit telecom companies’ dues assessment could start this week for large telcos, according to a senior DoT official.

The government also wants Vodafone Idea to expedite its self-assessment, and Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash is believed to have communicated DoT’s views in this regard to VIL, CEO and MD Ravinder Takkar during a meeting on Friday evening.

A DoT official said that “test checks” of AGR calculation for a sample year would commence shortly and it could be as early as this week at least for large telecom companies.

On Saturday, telecom operator Bharti Airtel said it has made payment of Rs 8,004 crore towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to the government, an amount over and above Rs 10,000 crore it has already paid.

The amount of Rs 8,004 crore includes Rs 3,004 crore towards a full and final settlement on AGR dues based on self-assessment, and a deposit of buffer Rs 5,000 crore to cover DoT’s reconciliation differences.

“Based on the aforesaid payment we have now complied with AGR judgement and the directions in the order of the Supreme Court dated October 24, 2019,” Airtel said in a regulatory filing.

According to the Department of Telecom (DoT) estimates, however, Airtel owes nearly Rs 35,000 crore.

DoT is also asking three telecom companies Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices to provide substantiating documents to support their claims on AGR arithmetic.

Once substantiating documents are filed by the companies, the telecom department will initiate random ‘test checks’ on the AGR calculation in a time-bound manner.

The ‘test check’ will be done for any one year (of telcos’ dues) to examine the deviation between telecom companies’ assessment and the government’s own calculation of AGR liabilities.

In all, 15 entities owe the government Rs 1.47 lakh crore in unpaid statutory dues -- Rs 92,642 crore in unpaid licence fee and another Rs 55,054 crore in outstanding spectrum usage charges.

Of the estimated dues that include interest and penalty for late payments, Airtel and Vodafone Idea account for about 60%.

Telcos are citing free voice calls to duck action on poor quality of service, but that will not pass regulatory muster, Trai Chairman R S Sharma said on Sunday, assuring users that the issue of call drops remains on its agenda.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) head said the watchdog’s earlier provision for a penalty on telcom firms for call drops was successfully challenged in the Supreme Court, but the regulator will continue to work for improving the quality of service.

“Most of the telcos are offering voice free, their argument is that if something is free, how much can you (Trai) punish me because I am not getting anything for that, which may not be correct because they are essentially cross-subsidising,” Sharma said at the Asia Economic Dialogue here.