Paid Rs 195 Crore AGR-Related Dues, Reliance Jio Tells Supreme Court

Reliance Jio on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it has already paid Rs 195 crore in Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR)-related dues which included spectrum sharing charge of Reliance Communications (RCom).  It said there is no question of one operator paying the Adjusted Gross Revenue AGR related dues of another firm, as suggested by the apex court earlier, and it has cleared all its dues. On August 14, the top court had sought the details of spectrum sharing pact between RCom and Jio and said as to why the company using the spectrum of the other firm cannot be asked to pay the AGR related dues to the government. The top court had asked the counsels for Reliance Jio and RCom to place their spectrum sharing agreements on record.

The billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Jio told the Supreme Court that it is willing to pay any amount that remains pending from the spectrum sharing of RCom.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah which would continue hearing in the matter on Wednesday, was told by senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Jio and Committee of Creditors (CoC) of RCom, that it would be premature to decide if spectrum can be sold or not under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). He said that only when the RCom resolution applicant moves the Department of Telecom (DoT) for spectrum sale, the issue will be decided.  

The bench observed that there are huge AGR dues payable and it cannot let it go.

“We had directed payment of AGR dues within a certain period but the Government is seeking 20 years'' time, what will happen if companies go into insolvency by then. We are fully conscious of the scope of proceedings, we will not exceed our power,” it said. The top court said it would decide all the legal issues involved in the matter and would do it conclusively.

The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on Wednesday.  

On Tuesday, the top court had asked Centre to clarify its stand on why Jio, which is earning revenue by sharing RCom''s 800 MHz spectrum, be not asked to pay the AGR related dues to the government.
The Centre had told the top court there was a difference of opinion between two of its ministers (DOT and Ministry of Corporate Affairs) on the issue of sale of spectrum during insolvency proceedings.
It had said that the DoT has constantly maintained a stand that spectrum cannot be sold during insolvency proceedings while the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had sought to allow spectrum sale for maximization of value.

Earlier, the top court had made it clear it will not hear "even for a second" the arguments on reassessment or re-calculation of the AGR related dues of telecom companies which run into about Rs 1.6 lakh crore.

The apex court had in October 2019 delivered the verdict on the AGR issue for calculating government dues of telecom companies such as licence fee and spectrum usage charges. After the top court had rejected pleas by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices seeking review of the judgement which widened the definition of AGR by including non-telecom revenues, the DoT had in March moved a plea seeking staggered payment over 20 years.