AGR case | Spectrum sale by Aircel under IBC to be decided by NCLAT: SC

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The Supreme Court (SC) on September 25 said the issue of spectrum sale under the bankruptcy code can be decided by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in the case of Aircel.

The government told the SC it is not opposed to NCLAT deciding the issue of spectrum sale under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), CNBC-TV18 reported.

The Aircel Monitoring Committee had moved the SC with a clarification application on whether the spectrum sale under the IBC is to be decided by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLT) and NCLAT.

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Aircel owes Rs 12,389 crore as outstanding adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, according to a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Telecom players have combined outstanding AGR dues of over Rs 1.4 lakh crore, according to an estimate by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The top court had on September 1 given telecom companies 10 years to pay outstanding AGR dues, starting from April 1, 2021.

The companies are required to make an upfront payment of 10 percent of the balance dues by March 31, 2021.