DoT Seeks Rs 1.83 Lakh Crore AGR Dues from GAIL

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought Rs 1.83 lakh crore as adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues from state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd following the Supreme Court’s ruling on revenues that need to be taken into consideration for payment of government dues. According to reports, the DoT sent a letter to GAIL in November 2019 seeking Rs 1,72,655 crore in dues on IP-1 and IP-2 licences, as well as Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence. Sources said the dues being sought are more than three times the networth of GAIL and several times the actual revenue earned.

It may be recalled that he Supreme

Court had on 24 October ruled that non-telecom revenues earned by firms using spectrum or airwaves allocated by the government will be considered for calculating statutory dues.

Responding to the letter, GAIL has stated that it owes nothing more than what it has already paid to the government. It also stated that the company had obtained ISP licence in 2002 for a period of 15 years, which expired in 2017, and GAIL never did any business under the licence and since no revenue was generated it cannot pay any amount. Referring to IP-1 and IP-2 licences, GAIL clarified that the total revenues it generated since 200102 was Rs 35 crore and not Rs 2,49,788 crore that has been considered for levying past dues.

Meanwhile, the DOT has agreed in-principle to the company’s request to look into the matter of wrong calculation and its CMD Ashutosh Karnatak is likely to meet Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash to sort out the issue.