Vodafone Idea case deferred a fourth time—to be taken up after Diwali. Shares fall.

The Supreme Court on Monday again deferred hearing Vodafone Idea Ltd’s plea seeking a waiver on its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to the government. The matter will now be taken up by the court when it reopens after Diwali.

The court will remain closed on account of Diwali from 20-25 October.

The matter pertains to Vodafone Idea filing a petition last month challenging the Department of Telecommunications’s (DoT) demand for an additional ₹9,450 crore towards AGR dues.

India’s third-largest telecom operator has also sought waiver of interest and penalties on its dues, arguing that the disputed components of the dues have not yet been finalised.

The case was deferred for hearing after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, sought additional time. In response, Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai asked Mehta to come up with a specific stand and deferred the hearing of the case for a fourth time.

At 12.50pm, Vodafone Idea shares were down 2.88% at ₹8.78 each on NSE, while the Nifty 50 was down 0.41%.

The Supreme Court had in 2020 locked Vodafone Idea’s AGR dues till 2016-17 based on DoT’s calculations, adding that no self-assessment or re-assessment of the dues would be permitted. However, DoT has now sought additional payments for up to 2018-19, Vodafone Idea stated in its petition filed on 8 September.

Of the fresh ₹9,450-crore dues sought, the additional demand raised by DoT from Idea Group and Vodafone Idea (post-merger in August 2018) was ₹2,774 crore, while the demand against Vodafone Group (pre-merger) was ₹6,675 crore, according to the petition.

The department informed the telecom operator that the licence fee dues were calculated with interest and interest on penalty up to October 2019, and were updated up to 31 March 2025, with interest calculated at an annual rate of 8%.

‘No default, no penalty’

On 19 September, the Supreme Court deferred the hearing to 26 September, but the government sought more time. The case was then deferred to 6 October and 13 October thereafter.

During the 19 September hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that since the government now holds a significant equity stake in Vodafone Idea, a balanced solution that protects consumer interests was needed.

Vodafone Idea, however, had argued in its amended petition filed on 18 September that the Supreme Court had in 2020 only “directed inclusion of the disputed heads for the computation of AGR. Hence, till date, it cannot be said that there was any default in payment requiring imposition of penalty”.

Later, the company filed an amended petition with the Supreme Court seeking a waiver of penalties and interest on AGR dues, arguing that the disputed components of the dues have yet to be finalised.

According to the amended petition, both DoT and the telecom operator agree that the amounts need to be reconciled, corrected, and finalised. “Till the principal amount payable is not crystallized and finalized, it cannot be said that the petitioner is in default requiring payment of penalty,” Vodafone Idea said in the petition.

Threat of survival

Vodafone Idea already owes around ₹83,400 crore in AGR dues to the government, with annual payments of ₹18,000 crore starting March. Including penalties and interest, its total liabilities to the government are estimated at around ₹2 trillion.

Vodafone Idea has previously said that its cash flows were insufficient to pay the dues that have mounted over the years. Vodafone Idea’s former chief executive Akshaya Moondra said in August that early resolution of the AGR dispute was critical for the telecom operator to secure bank funding.

The telecom operator has asked the Supreme Court to quash DoT’s additional demands for FY17 and earlier, and order a comprehensive reassessment and reconciliation of all AGR dues for that period.

It has warned that the hefty liability threatened its survival and “the livelihood of thousands of employees working directly or indirectly” with the company. Vodafone Idea serves about 198 million subscribers and employs more than 18,000 people.