Bharti Airtel on Monday paid ₹10,000 crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) as part of its adjusted gross revenue-related dues. “The said total amount of ₹10,000 crore has been paid on behalf of Bharti Airtel Limited, Bharti Hexacom Limited and Telenor,” the company said in a letter to the DoT.
Following a Supreme Court’s order on February 14 that asked the managing directors and directors of companies, including Bharti Airtel, to show cause why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for failing to pay even a "single penny" to the government despite an October 2019 apex court judgment, the company had committed to deposit a part paymen t of ₹10,000 crore by February 20. It had also promised that remaining dues will be cleared “well-before” March 17 – the next date for court hearing on the issue.
In its letter dated February 17, the company said that in compliance with supplementary order dated October 24, 2019 and the order dated February 14, 2020, of the Hon’ble supreme Court, it has duly paid an amount of ₹9,500 crore on behalf of Bharti Airtel Limited (including in respect of Telenor India which has merged with Bharti Airtel Limited) and an amount of ₹500 crore on behalf of Bharti Hexacom Limited.
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“We are in the process of completing self assessment exercise expeditiously and will file make the balance payment upon completion of the same, before the next date of hearing in the Super Court," it added.
As per the DoT, Bharti Airtel’s liabilities add up to nearly ₹35,586 crore, of which ₹21,682 crore is licence fee and ₹13,904.01 crore is spectrum usage charges. This does not include dues to be paid on behalf of Telenor.
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The company’s scrip was trading lower by 0.61% or ₹3.45 at ₹ 561.65 per share on the BSE at 11:00 am.