As per industry sources, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to write fresh letters to the telecom operators questioning the variation in AGR dues assessed by the operators and its own calculations.
The move comes in backdrop of the recent payments made by the telecom operators as per their self assessment, which is significantly less than what was demanded by the DoT. Even the telcos that have announced full and final settlement have paid an amount significantly lower than DoT’s AGR estimates.
Bharti Airtel has made a payment of over Rs 180 billion in totality to DoT and has announced that it had made full and final settlement towards its AGR liabilities. However, this amount is far less than DoT estimated dues owed by the operator, which stands at around Rs 350 billion.
Likewise, Tata Teleservices has paid Rs 41.97 billion towards AGR dues whereas DoT estimated the liabilities to be about Rs 140 billion for the operator.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea has so far paid Rs 35 billion to DoT and is in the process of assessing its full dues. However, as per DoT’s estimates, Vodafone Idea owes Rs 530 billion in AGR dues.
