Bharti Airtel , Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices to file plea in SC today for time to pay AGR dues

Bharti Airtel , Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices will request Supreme Court on Monday to allow the operators to discuss with the government and come up with a suitable time frame to make the payments .

According to people aware of the development , this is a last ditch effort by the telcos to ensure that they get some relief from the apex court in terms of timeline to make statuary payment .

While the petition will be filed on Monday , the matter is expected to come up for hearing on an urgent basis on Tuesday .

Vodafone Idea, along with some 14 telcos, need to pay about Rs 1.47 lakh crore to the telecom department by a Supreme Court (SC)-mandated deadline of January 23. On Thursday, the top court had rejected pleas by the telco, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices to review its October 24 verdict that had widened the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). Licence fees and SUC are paid on the basis of AGR. Vodafone Idea now plans to file a curative petition at the SC.

The government has previously said that it can’t offer any relief on the AGR dues, unless directed by the court. But it has also publicly backed a three-player private sector market, which gave market experts some hope that a Cabinet-backed relief may be an option.