Private telecom companies should pay their AGR dues in ten years - says the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has delivered it’s judgement in the payment of AGR dues by the private telecom companies. A three judge bench, consisting of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice M.R. Shah, has directed that the AGR dues, amounting to Rs.1.6 lakh crore, should be paid within the next 10 years. The Court has also directed that the private telecom companies should make an upfront payment of 10% of the amount. The Private telecom companies have also been directed that the annual instalment of the AGR dues should be paid by 7^th February every year, so as to complete the entire payment by 31^st March, 2031. It may be noted that the DoT has suggested to the Supreme Court that, the AGR dues could be paid by the private telecom companies over a period of 20 years. But, the Supreme Court did not accept this proposal.