Telecom dues: Airtel pays Rs 10,000 cr to govt, SC refuses to entertain Voda plea

New Delhi: With the government coming down heavily on telcos after the Supreme Court's rap, Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has paid Rs 10,000 crore to the telecom department towards statutory dues.

The company said it will make payment of balance amount after self-assessment exercise.

"The... amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom, and Telenor," the Sunil Mittal-led company said in a statement.

As much as Rs 9,500 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel (including Telenor India which merged with the company) and another Rs 500 crore for Bharti Hexacom.

As per the government's assessment, Airtel owes nearly Rs 35,586 crore in statutory dues, including licence fee and spectrum usage charge.

Meanwhile, after being rapped by the Supreme Court for failing to deposit AGR dues, Vodafone Idea on Monday moved the Apex Court saying it can pay only Rs 2,500 crore of the arrears to the government as of now and will follow it up with another Rs 1,000 crore by February 21.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal submitted by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter.

The telecom firm also appealed to the top court that the Department of Telecom should not take any coercive action and invoke bank guarantees, as an action of this nature would have consequences and would eventually hamper their operations.

The Supreme Court declined to entertain the telco's plea seeking "no coercive action". According to the counsels, Vodafone Idea contended before the court that Rs 3,500 crore is 50 per cent of its estimated principle AGR dues of Rs 7,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea is estimated to pay Rs 53,000 crore to the government as part of its AGR dues. According to reports, it has informed the government that it is examining all the avenues as to how much of AGR dues it could pay off.

Last Friday, the top court had made scathing remarks on the telecos, which did not clear AGR dues despite a judgment directing the firms to pay the dues to the government. WITH AGENCY INPUTS