Vodafone ‍Idea (VI) laid out a repayment schedule for its adjusted gross ‌revenue (AGR) dues, capping annual payments at $13.79 million for the next six years, easing near-term cash flow pressure without reducing headline liabilities.

On December 31, the Indian government approved a partial moratorium on the telecoms company’s ⁠dues, freezing $9.76 billion in payments and deferring repayments to the 2030s. At the time, VI had said it had not received any communication about the measure.

The telecom operator, in ‌which the Indian government ‌holds a 49% stake, said in a statement ‍on Friday (January 9, 2026) that after the initial six years, the annual ‍payout will be capped at 1 billion rupees for the following four years through March 2035, with the remaining balance to be paid in equal annual instalments over the subsequent ⁠six years.

Telecom operators, including VI, have long contested the Indian government’s method of ⁠calculating AGR, which determines the licence fees and other dues.

($1 = 89.8910 Indian rupees)

The Supreme Court on Friday (September 19, 2025) agreed to hear on September 26 a plea of telecom major Vodafone Idea Ltd seeking quashing of the additional adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demands for the period until 2016-17.

A bench of Chief justice B.R. Gavai and Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria fixed the plea for consideration on next Friday after taking note of submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the telecom firm, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the Centre.

The law officer said that now the circumstances have changed and the parties wanted to find a solution.

“We will keep it on Friday,” the CJI said.

The company has filed a fresh plea on September 8 seeking a direction to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to “comprehensively re-assess and reconcile all AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016-17 following the ‘Deduction Verification Guidelines'” dated February 3, 2020.

Earlier this year, in a setback to telecom majors, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the Supreme Court had refused to review its 2021 order rejecting their pleas for rectification of alleged errors in calculation of AGR dues payable by them.

The Supreme Court had dismissed their pleas seeking review of the 2021 order.

On July 23, 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed their applications seeking rectification of the alleged errors in calculation of AGR dues.

The telecom companies had argued that arithmetical errors in the calculation be rectified and there were cases of duplication of entries.

The Supreme Court in September 2020 fixed a time frame of 10 years for telecom service providers struggling to pay ₹93,520 crore of AGR related dues to clear their outstanding amount to the Government.

In its September 2020 order, the Supreme Court said that telecom operators should make the payment of 10% of the total dues as demanded by the DoT by March 31, 2021 and the rest amount would be paid in yearly instalments commencing from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2031.

The Supreme Court, which held the demand raised by the DoT with respect to AGR dues as final, said there should neither be a dispute raised by the telecom companies nor any re-assessment.

The Supreme Court in October 2019 delivered its verdict on the AGR issue.

The DoT moved a plea in the top court asking for a staggered payment of the dues by telcos over 20 years.