The Supreme Court recently rejected a plea seeking the cancellation of the Union government Cabinet's decision made in September 2021 to relax payment terms for the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) owed by telecom companies, as observed in the case of Anshul Gupta vs. Prime Minister's Office.
In a ruling issued on September 1, a bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan maintained that it would not be appropriate to intervene in a "well-calibrated" policy decision based on expert recommendations and emerging public interest considerations.
The Court also acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic had compelled the government to make such a decision, given the increased demand for data due to the surge in online education and virtual meetings. Telecom companies were required to make substantial investments to ensure their systems could handle the rising internet usage, the bench explained.
During the pandemic, people heavily relied on the telecom sector, especially telecom service providers (TSPs), to stay connected, particularly when lockdowns were imposed in March 2020 and subsequent periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This necessitated what can be termed as "social distancing" and, consequently, "distant socializing." The Court emphasized that video conferencing and virtual communication quickly became essential not only for government offices, schools, and private organizations but also for the functioning of the judiciary.
The bench also expressed its reluctance to interfere in matters of policy unless there was concrete evidence of illegality, arbitrariness, or unconstitutionality. It stated that such policy decisions were made based on expert opinions and emerging situations and had significant technical and financial implications, ultimately serving the public interest.
The Court's consideration stemmed from a plea to enforce a 2020 Supreme Court judgment in this matter. Initially, in October 2019, the Supreme Court had ruled that AGR dues from telecom companies should include non-telecom revenue, resulting in dues of over ₹92,000 crores in license fees for the telcos. In the 2020 judgment, the top court allowed telecom companies to pay these charges over a ten-year period.
In July 2021, the Court also rejected pleas from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea, and Tata seeking a correction of the amount owed. Several months later, in September 2021, the Central government eased the payment terms for telecom companies, including excluding non-telecom revenue from the AGR definition on a prospective basis, reducing bank guarantee requirements, waiving interest or penalties on existing late dues, and permitting staggered payments for license and spectrum usage fees, with the latter being eliminated from future spectrum auctions.
This cabinet decision was challenged in the Supreme Court by Anshul Gupta through a writ petition. In its present judgment, the Court dismissed this plea, while also noting that the Central government should ideally have submitted an affidavit regarding its September 2021 decision to ease the payment terms.
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TAGS: Supreme Court Government Telecom Payment Policy Pandemic Challenges AGR Dues Expert Opinion Public Interest.
