The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Centre’s plea to recover adjusted gross revenue of about Rs 92,000 crore from telecom service providers.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, upheld the definition of the adjusted gross revenue formulated by the Department of Telecom.

“We have held that the definition of AGR will prevail,” the bench, also comprising Justices Vineet Saran and S Ravindra Bhat, said. “We have allowed the appeal of the Department of Telecom and dismissed that of licensees,” the top court said while reading the operative portion of the judgment.

The apex court said it had rejected all other submissions of the telecom companies. It added that the service providers would have to pay penalties and interests to the DoT.