Telecom players may finally hope for some relief with the Centre moving the Supreme Court on Monday to seek its approval to give a 20-year window to the telcos to pay their AGR dues in annual instalments.

Telecom companies owe Rs 1.47 lakh crore in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to the government.

“All licensees impacted by the judgment (October 2019) of the court be allowed to pay the unpaid or remaining to be paid amount of past DoT assessed dues in annual installments over 20 years, duly protecting the net present value of the said dues using a discount rate of 8 per cent (based on one-year marginal cost of lending rate of the SBI which is currently 7.75 per cent),” the application filed by the department of telecom (DoT) in the apex court said.

The DoT has said the interest on the principal and penalty not be charged beyond the judgment date, while dues payable to the government be protected by a levy of 8 per cent interest on staggered payments.

“The applicant is conscious of the fact that any immediate adverse impact on the functioning of the telecom service providers would not only have an adverse impact on the overall economy but would also seriously harm the interest of the consumers,” it said in the application.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M. R. Shah directed that the Centre’s application be listed before the same bench which had given the October 24, 2019, verdict for the payment of AGR dues.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, mentioned the application for urgent listing, saying that if a telecom company goes bankrupt because of the dues, it would have a major impact on the sector.

The bench, however, said it does not know when the original bench that gave the verdict will assemble because of the precautionary measures adopted by the top court in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

It also allowed the Centre to file an affidavit in reply to the contempt notice issued by the apex court on February 14 for non-compliance of its order to pay the AGR dues to the DoT.