Bharti Airtel in a statement has paid an additional amount of Rs. 3,004 crore towards the full and final settlement of its adjusted gross revenues (AGR) dues in addition to Rs. 10,000 crore already paid on February 17, 2020 on behalf of the Bharti Group of Companies. The company also confirmed that it has deposited an additional amount of Rs. 5,000 crore as an ad-hoc payment to cover differences, if any, arising from the reconciliation exercise with the Department of Telecommunication (DoT)
As per DoT estimates, the company's liability stands at over Rs. 35,000 crore. The Supreme Court earlier this month directed telecom firms to comply with its October 24, 2019 judgement upholding the DoT''s definition of AGR dues. The payment included liabilities on Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom and Telenor India. Among other telecom firms, Vodafone Idea is staring at dues worth Rs 53,000 crore, which includes up to Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and another Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee. Tata Teleservices owes around Rs 13,800 crore, BSNL Rs 4,989 crore and MTNL Rs 3,122 crore.Vodafone Idea has so far paid Rs 3,500 crore as part of AGR dues to the DoT.