Vodafone Idea Files Review Petition in SC Against AGR Dues Ruling

Vodafone Idea has moved the Supreme Court with a review petition, hoping to get its AGR dues reduced. This petition comes as last month, the SC threw Vi's earlier appeal for recalculation of its AGR dues.

Vodafone Idea Seeks a Review

The latest move comes as SC trashed the pleas filed by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices seeking a recalculation of their AGR dues. That has landed the telco in hot water as it looks at a potential cash shortfall up to $3.1 billion by FY23.

Notably, Vodafone Idea faces AGR dues of ₹58,254 crore, of which it has paid ₹7,854 crore. Apart from the dues, the telco owes the government an additional ₹96,270 crore in spectrum dues, taking its total dues to about ₹1.57 trillion.

Given the low success rates of review petitions, chances are slim that Vodafone Idea will get something out of it. Apparently, the market has the same sentiment; Vi's shares were trading down by 3.60% on the BSE at ₹6.43 on Thursday morning. However, the other parties involved in the AGR case, Airtel and Tata Teleservices, will also file a similar review.

Last week, Kumar Mangalam Birla stepped down from his post at the telco, after his letter to the government offering his stake in Vi went public. Apart from that, the government trashed the much-maligned retro tax, which garnered some hope in the telco's inner circuits. However, it looks likely that Vodafone stands to gain nothing from the move.