Bharti, Vodafone Idea approach India's top court on payment of dues: report

New Delhi: India’s top telecom firms, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, have asked the Supreme Court to review a ruling forcing them to pay the bulk of outstanding government dues of USD 13 billion, media said on Saturday.

Last month’s ruling gave telecom operators three months in which to pay overdue levies and interest, putting at risk the operations of both Vodafone Idea and Bharti.

Bharti and Vodafone Idea have filed separate review petitions in the Supreme Court, the Economic Times newspaper said. The court has yet to decide on admitting the petitions.

The two firms did not immediately reply to emails from Reuters to seek comment.

In their filings, the companies seek review of the penalties and interest on the dues, and query why some revenue components should be included in calculations of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), on which the dispute centres, the paper said.

Telecom providers in India pay the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) 3 per cent to 5 per cent of their AGR in spectrum usage charges and 8 per cent as licence fees.