After OIL, GAIL moves SC against DoT’s AGR dues

New Delhi: A day after OIL approached the Supreme Court, GAIL (India) Limited has moved the apex court, seeking a clarification on the October 24, 2019 judgment on AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues which has off late developed into a bone of contention between non-telecom PSUs and the DoT (Department of Telecommunications). The SC ruling had prompted the DoT to seek astronomical amounts from these PSUs as statutory dues, which PSUs have alleged as being unfair.

GAIL says AGR dues sought by DoT 'legally not tenable'

In a regulatory filing on Thursday, GAIL (India) Limited said, "Based on the legal opinion sought in this regard and facts of the case, the Company is of the view, that the amount assessed in provisional assessment orders are legally not tenable. In this regard, the Company has also filed an application with Hon'ble Supreme Court on 23 January, 2020 for seeking clarification of the judgement passed." This comes a day after India's second-largest oil exploration and production company, OIL (Oil India Limited) filed a clarificatory/ modificatory petition in the Supreme Court against the dues demanded by the DoT.

DoT seeking non-telecom dues from GAIL, OIL, PowerGrid

A ruling by the Supreme Court of India had said that non-telecom revenues should be included for considering payments of government dues. Thereafter, DoT had handed over bills first to GAIL and PowerGrid and then to OIL. From GAIL, DoT has sought Rs 1, 83,076 crore and from PowerGrid, Rs 22,168 crore. It has sought Rs 48,000 crore from OIL, Rs 15,019 crore from Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd and Rs 5,841 crore, plus interest, from Delhi Metro Rail Corp. Ltd (DMRC). The deadline to pay these dues was Thursday, January 23.

The backdrop

In its October 24, 2019 verdict, the Supreme Court had said that non-telecom revenues earned by firms using spectrum or airwaves allocated by the government should also be considered for calculating non-telecom revenues. The DoT, therefore, totalled all the revenues earned by a company in the last 15 years and raised a demand.