Vodafone Idea and Tata Group on Monday made part payment of about Rs 2,500 crore and over Rs 2,190 crore, respectively, to the telecom department towards statutory dues. Earlier on Monday, Bharti Airtel paid Rs 10,000 crore to the Department of Telecommunications towards statutory dues. The company said it will make the payment on balance amount after self-assessment exercise. This came after the government came down heavily of telcos following Supreme Court's rap.
The official source privy to the development told PTI that VIL has made payment of Rs 2,500 crore while Tata Group has paid over Rs 2,190 crore.
Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court had rejected telecom firm Vodafone's proposal to pay Rs 2,500 crore by the end of the day and Rs 1,000 crore by Friday against Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, while also refusing its plea that no coercive action be taken against it.
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal given by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter.
Rohatgi said they are willing to pay Rs 2,500 crore today (Monday) and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday but no coercive action be taken against the company.
He urged the bank guarantee deposited with the government by Vodafone should also not be encashed.
The top court had on Friday warned of contempt proceedings against top executives of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and other telecom firms for failing to comply with its directive to pay an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues, and asked whether there was no law left in the country.
With the apex court's rap, the government came down heavily on telcos following which 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.
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