Vodafone on Saturday said it will pay the statutory dues of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in the next few days but the continuation of its business depends on the positive outcome of the modification plea in the Supreme Court.

“The company is assessing the amount that it will be able to pay to the DoT towards the dues calculated based on AGR, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in its order dated October 24, 2019. The company proposes to pay the amount so assessed in the next few days,” Vodafone Idea said.

“As disclosed in the company’s financial statements for the December quarter, the company’s ability to continue as a going concern is essentially dependent on a positive outcome of the application for modification of the supplementary order,” the company said.

On Thursday, Vodafone Idea, which reported a loss of Rs 6,453 crore in the third quarter ended December 30, said it had computed its liabilities at Rs 44,150 crore up to September 30, 2019. The company has warned of a shutdown if no relief is given.

Airtel on Friday responded to the DoT order by offering to pay Rs 10,000 crore by February 20 and the remaining before March 17. Airtel owes nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee and spectrum usage charges, to the government.

The Supreme Court order “leaves the telcos with limited options to get relief from legal or government sources”, Aliasgar Shakir, Motilal Oswal, said in a report.

“This could have serious ramifications on the telecom and banking sectors with ripple effects on the overall economy, as VIL faces a risk of a shutdown with large-scale debt default of Rs 1 trillion, job losses and subscriber churn. The government, despite winning the suit, could see the biggest impact through deferred spectrum debt default of Rs 900 billion,” the report said.