The Supreme Court’s Monday order offers Vodafone Idea only a limited breather in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter. According to the copy of the order uploaded by the SC on Wednesday, the apex court has allowed the government to revisit only the additional Rs 9,449-crore demand raised by the department of telecommunications (DoT) for the period up to 2016–17. The SC has said that the company’s petition before it sought relief only on this matter.
In its order disposing of Vodafone Idea’s writ petition, the bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, have said, “We clarify that this is a matter falling within the policy domain of the Union of India and if, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the Union of India, keeping in view the larger public interest, desires to reconsider the issue, there is no reason to restrain or prevent it from doing so”.
However, they have further added, “It is further to be noted that the prayer in the petition itself restricts its claim only to the additional AGR demand raised by the respondent for the period up to the financial year 2016–17”. The observation effectively limits the scope of review to that particular demand and rules out a wider reopening of the company’s AGR liabilities.
This is a little reprieve for the telco which is faced with an overall AGR burden at over Rs 58,000 crore as determined by the apex court in its 2020 ruling. This, after including interest, penalties, and interest on penalties stands at around Rs 83,400 crore.
As reported earlier, the order also underscores that the decision applies solely to Vodafone Idea, taking into account the Union government’s 49% equity in the company and the fact that nearly 200 million subscribers depend on its services. “We further clarify that this order is passed only with regard to the petitioner-Vodafone Idea, taking into consideration the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case as put up by the Union of India,” the order said.
The DoT had in August this year issued a fresh demand of Rs 9,449.23 crore towards AGR dues up to 2016–17, including Rs 6,675 crore relating to Vodafone’s pre-merger operations and Rs 2,774 crore post-merger with Idea Cellular. Vodafone Idea had challenged the demand, contending that it violated the finality of the Supreme Court’s earlier AGR verdicts from July and September 2020, which had fixed the company’s liability at Rs 58,254 crore and barred any further recalculation or reassessment.
While Monday’s order allows the Centre to examine the issue, it does not alter the status of Vodafone Idea’s existing AGR dues or the repayment schedule already in place. Analysts pointed out that the relief is unlikely to make a material difference to the company’s financial position given its total government-related liabilities of nearly Rs 1.99 lakh crore as of June 30, 2025. These include deferred spectrum payments extending up to FY2044 and AGR installments payable until FY2031.