AGR update: Cannot take responsibility for the payment of RCOM’s AGR dues, Jio tells Supreme Court

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has denied any sort of liability to pay the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related dues on behalf of Reliance Communications (RCOM). Even though Reliance Jio is using the spectrum at present, the operator has contended that since most of these dues predate Jio’s use of RCOM’s spectrum, it should not be held liable to pay such dues.

Reliance Jio has been using RCOM’s 800 MHz spectrum under an asset-sharing agreement since 2016. The company told the Supreme Court that there is legal basis for transferring bankrupt RCOM’s dues, AGR or otherwise, to Jio as under a spectrum sharing agreement two telcos do not share liabilities.

Earlier, the Supreme Court added a new dimension to the AGR case by asking whether Jio should pay the dues of bankrupt RCOM.

RCOM’s AGR dues, as calculated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), relate to 2G and 3G business of RCOM and Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL) carried out before 2016.

RCOM owes Rs 251.99 billion in AGR dues, including spectrum usage charge (SUC) and licence fees. Meanwhile, Reliance Jio had already cleared its share of AGR dues amounting to Rs 1.95 billion in January 2020.