SC asks DoT not to invoke bank guarantee of Airtel for 3 weeks to recover AGR dues of Videocon

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Department of Telecommunication not to invoke the bank guarantee given by Bharati Airtel for a period of three weeks for not clearing Videocon Telecommunications Ltd's adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of over Rs 1,300 crore.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah refused to entertain Airtel’s plea against the DoT demand.

However, the court allowed the telecom firm to approach TDSAT against the decision. It also restrained the DoT from invoking bank guarantees of the company for three weeks.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Bharti Airtel, contended that the company received communication on August 17, saying the firm must make payment and if it failed to do so then there was a possibility of invoking various bank guarantees.

He submitted that Rs 18,000 crore dues have already been paid by the telecom company in accordance with the top court’s order. However, there was another figure, which was attributed to Videocon Telecommunications.

“The liability is of Videocon….full liability of the seller," he said.

"By adding the dues of Videocon to the demand made from Airtel, the DoT has violated the apex court’s order that AGR dues cannot be recalculated or reassessed," he claimed.

The court, however, said it would not interfere with its order but would grant liberty to Airtel to move any other alternate forum to redress its grievances.

Divan said that the alternate forum will be the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

The court then allowed Airtel to withdraw the application.

The DoT, in an affidavit filed earlier this year on the status of statutory dues paid by telecom operators, said it was planning to slap Videocon Telecommunications Ltd's AGR dues over Rs 1,300 crore on Bharti Airtel.

Videocon Telecommunications had sold spectrum of 30 MHz to Bharti Airtel in 2016.

A note submitted by the DoT in the top court last year stated that Vodafone Idea owed Rs 58,254 crores, out of which it has paid around Rs 7850 crore; Bharti Airtel owed Rs 43,980 crore and it has paid over Rs 18,000 crore; and Tata Telecom owed Rs 16, 798 crores, out of which it has paid Rs 4,197 crore.