Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and other telecom operators may have to pay the government a whopping Rs 1.4 lakh crores following a Supreme Court order that sent shock waves through an industry already grappling with billions of dollars in debt and an intense tariff war to retain customers. The top court upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunications businesses in calculating the annual adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fees to the exchequer.
