Vodafone Idea Shares Crash After Supreme Court Postpone AGR Hearing to October 13

Vodafone Idea shares crashed to 4% on October 6 as Supreme Court deferred hearing of the telco's AGR plea to October 13 as government has sought more time.VIL had filed the fresh plea against the Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) fresh demand of Rs 5,606 crore relating to the financial year 2016–17.Earlier, the Supreme Court had deferred the hearing on September 26, after taking note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the Centre, to this effect.Mehta said the government held nearly 50% equity in the VIL, making it a direct stakeholder in the operator's survival.

"Some solution may have to be found out, subject to your lordships' approval. If it can be kept next week, we can think of some solution," the law officer said. The VIL has sought a direction from the DoT to comprehensively reassess and reconcile all AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016-17 following the Deduction Verification Guidelines dated February 3, 2020. Earlier this year, in a setback to telecom majors, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the apex court had refused to review its 2021 order rejecting their pleas for a rectification of alleged errors in the calculation of the AGR dues payable by them.

The court had dismissed their pleas seeking a review of the 2021 order. On July 23, 2021, the apex court dismissed their applications seeking a rectification of the alleged errors in the calculation of the AGR dues. The telecom companies had argued that arithmetical errors in the calculation be rectified and that there were cases of duplication of entries. The top court, in September 2020, fixed a time frame of 10 years for telecom service providers struggling to pay ₹93,520 crore of AGR-related dues to clear their outstanding amount to the government.Vodafone Idea owes nearly ₹83,400 crore in AGR dues, and the annual payments currently stand at ₹18,000 crore, scheduled from March 2026. When combined with interest and penalties, Vodafone Idea’s dues stand at more than ₹2 lakh crore.For a month’s time, the telecom firm’s shares have gained over 18%. In the last six months, the stock has climbed more than 17%. Since the beginning of the year, it has, however, advanced nearly 8%.