After the Supreme Court had come strongly against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and telecom operators including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea India (VIL) for not paying Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues, VIL on Saturday said it is currently assessing the amount that it needs to pay and will do in next few days.

“The company is currently assessing the amount that it will be able to pay to DoT towards the dues calculated based on AGR, as interpreted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated October 24, 2019. The company proposes to pay the amount so assessed in the next few days,” VIL said in a filing at BSE on Saturday.

However, the company also expressed its concerns and said the future course of action or its continuation of business will depend on the outcome of its application for modification of the supplementary order.

VIL has a liability of around ₹53,038 crore, including ₹24,729 crore of spectrum dues and ₹28,309 crore in licence fee. The company which is already a debt ridden has also warned publicly that it would shutdown its business if no relief is given.

“As disclosed in the company's financial statements for quarter ending December 31, 2019, the company's ability to continue as a going concern is essentially dependent on a positive outcome of the application for modification of the Supplementary Order,” the company added in the statement.

Post the apex court’s judgment on Friday, Airtel also immediately came out with a statement saying it would pay ₹10,000 crore by February 20 to the DoT.

Meanwhile, the apex court has also asked top officials of the telecom firms to explain why contempt action should not be taken against them for “non-compliance of its order” to pay AGR of ₹1.47 lakh crore to the DoT.

It has kept March 17 for the next hearing.

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