Today, On 27th October, The Supreme Court allowed the Central Government to re-examine issues related to the AGR dues of Vodafone Idea. The Bench said there was no impediment in the Centre reconsidering the matter, given its equity stake and consumer impact.
The Supreme Court permitted the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to reassess the additional Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) demands raised against the company.
The Court recognized that the government’s 49% equity stake in Vodafone Idea and the interests of over 200 million consumers warranted a fresh evaluation of the situation.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran issued the ruling after the Central government expressed willingness to reevaluate the additional demands due to evolving circumstances.
The Court stated,
“Taking into consideration the change in circumstances that now the government itself has induced substantial equity in the petitioner company, and further that the issue involved is likely to have direct bearing on the interest of 20 crore consumers, in the particular facts, we see no impediment in the Union of India reconsidering the issue and taking appropriate decision in law,”
The Court emphasized that this matter falls within the government’s policy domain, and it would not obstruct the reexamination if deemed necessary for public interest.
The Bench added,
“We clarify that this is a matter within the policy domain of the Union. If the Union, in the particular facts of the circumstances, addressing a larger public interest, desires to reconsider the issue, there should be no reason as to why the Union should be prevented from doing so,”
This order was issued in response to a plea from Vodafone Idea regarding the additional AGR demands.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central Government, informed the Court that given the changed circumstances over the past five years, the government was willing to reassess the AGR demands.
He referred to the government’s capital infusion and its 49% stake in the company, as well as the interests of the vast consumer base.
The writ petition from Vodafone Idea stemmed from the DoT issuing new additional demands for AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016–17. These demands were challenged on the grounds that they contradicted the Supreme Court’s previous orders from July and September 2020, which had finalized all AGR liabilities for that period.
Vodafone Idea highlighted that based on the Court’s directives, its total liability was established at Rs.58,254 crore up to FY 2016–17, and the Court had prohibited any recalculations or reassessments of dues.
Nevertheless, the DoT continued to raise further demands for the same period, classifying them as “above and beyond” the crystallized AGR dues and subject to further evaluations through departmental assessments, CAG audits, or legal proceedings.
According to Vodafone, the DoT’s subsequent claims exceeded Rs.5,960 crore. For example, an August 2023 notice demanded around Rs.292 crore for FY 2015–16.
More recently, an August 2025 letter from the DoT calculated dues of approximately Rs.9,450 crore up to FY 2018–19, with nearly Rs.5,606 crore (as of March 31, 2025) pertaining to the previously settled period up to FY 2016–17.
Vodafone Idea argued that if spectrum usage charges for the same cutoff were included, the disputed amount escalated to nearly Rs.6,800 crore.
The company contended that while the DoT maintains the right to issue additional demands, operators have not been allowed to correct what they describe as clerical and arithmetic errors in the original assessments.
Previous applications by Vodafone Idea to reconcile such errors were rejected by the Supreme Court in July 2021 and again during the review stage in January 2025.
The latest petition sought to cancel the additional demands and enforce the earlier Supreme Court orders, asserting that either the dues for the period up to FY 2016–17 should be considered fully crystallized, or a fair reconciliation process should be mandated in accordance with the Deduction Verification Guidelines from February 2020.
Today, the Central government agreed to review the additional demands. The Court stated that the government is free to do so and proceeded to dispose of the petition.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocate Mahesh Agarwal represented Vodafone Idea.