Vodafone Idea Gets Extension as DoT Pushes AGR Review Deadline to June

Following the recent government relief for Vodafone Idea's dues and liabilities, the telecom department anticipates that the AGR review will be finalised by June. The original deadline for the reassessment was March 31. The Controller of Communication Accounts has reassessed the internal licencing fees, and now the Spectrum Usage Charge (SUC) is being reviewed.

Consequently, the schedule has been pushed back to June, according to sources. In response to a ruling by the Supreme Court, the Union Cabinet decided to "freeze" Vodafone Idea Limited's (VIL) Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of INR 87,695 crore for the fiscal years 2006–07 through 2018–19.

Why Vi’s Frozen Dues are Reassessed?

In early February of this year, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar stated that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will reassess VIL's AGR dues. These dues are frozen as of December 31, 2025, in accordance with the deduction verification guidelines.

The telecom department's review will be decided upon by a committee established by the DoT on January 30, 2026. That sum doesn't include the AGR payments for FY 2017–18 and FY 2018–19, which are due in compliance with the ruling of the Supreme Court in 2020.

The Minister further stated that the Committee is made up of a former Indian government secretary and an official chosen by the CAG to represent the country's comptroller and auditor general. Within two months, unless otherwise extended, the Committee must complete the review and announce its findings.

Vodafone Idea–Ericsson Join Hands

Ericsson, a Swedish producer of telecom network equipment, and Vodafone Idea, the third-largest carrier in India, have strengthened their collaboration. Together, the two will update the carrier's postpaid offerings and strengthen the telco's future networks. Recently on 2 March, the businesses announced that Ericsson will launch cloud-native 'Ericsson Charging', which will help the company support and grow its postpaid subscriber segment while also delivering unique postpaid offers.

Increasing the number of its more lucrative postpaid customers is a primary goal for Vi. The carrier plans to extend its network coverage, deploy and integrate additional network sites, augment capacity, and expand coverage using Ericsson's equipment. This is all part of a broader INR 45,000-crore capital expenditure plan to deepen the network's coverage and reduce customer churn. The corporations remained tight-lipped about the partnership's finances.