No Decision On Relief For Telcos Hit With AGR Dues At DCC Meet

On Friday, the Digital Communications Commission (DCC)'s crucial meeting to discuss steps on providing relief to stressed telecom companies ended inconclusively with the inter-ministerial panel saying it needed more data to make a decision on the AGR issue, a PTI report said.

DDC is the highest decision-making body of the Department of Telecom.

Shares of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the two major telcos to be hit by the Supreme Court's 24 October verdict on AGR dues, fell nearly 3 percent each in the afternoon session on Friday.

Vodafone Idea is the most vulnerable of all the telecom companies hit by the verdict with dues of over Rs 57,000 crore, of which it has paid about Rs 3,500 crore.

The DCC meeting lasted two hours and is expected to meet again in coming days, the PTI report said citing sources.

The telecom department officials continue to maintain that the meeting did not focus on AGR issues but on project implementation for PPP on Bharat Net project.

The telecom department is awaiting more details required for reconciliation of AGR data, the report added.

Earlier this week, Vodafone Idea reportedly wrote to the government asking to allow it to pay the dues over 15 years after the three-year moratorium, along with other measures like tax refund adjustments, cuts in licence fees and SUC and the establishment of a floor for tariffs.