Economic
Highlights
New Delhi, 29 July 2019
BSNL & MTNL
BUSINESS CRAWLS,
REVIVAL CRITICAL
By Shivaji Sarkar
Digital India’s backbone is in severe crisis. The worst BSNL crisis is hitting
trade and business all over the country and has also exposed the private
telecoms. They are not found as efficient as the crisis-ridden government
backbone and most of these are deficient in services.
In three quarters Rs 2.6 crore fine has been
slapped on telcos by TRAI since October 1, 2017. Vodafone had the highest
penalty of Rs 1.6 crore, Rs 50 lakh on Aircel, Rs 29.5 lakh on Tata
Teleservices, Rs 13 lakh each on state-run BSNL and Norwegian-run Telenor,
according to a recent answer in Rajya Sabha.
The BSNL, despite government’s effort to
revive, remains in a difficult situation. Both phone and internet lines are either
not operating or operating at such low speed that banking, financial and data
transactions are hit all over the country. Losses to businesses are thus huge.
Though the department of telecom has asked State
power bodies not to disconnect its connections, the State bureaucrats are not
heeding to the advice. They say that pending payments are marked against their
individual performances and they need to act.
All over the country, starting from Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand, the rural hinterland exchanges are either not operating or
only partially functional. This has put India’s businesses at stake as over the
years much of it is through digital transactions, which none other than the
Government is pushing for.
Non-payment of energy bills closed down 1083 mobile
towers and 524 telephone exchanges, Union Communications Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad has told Parliament recently. Besides, 258 BSNL mobile towers are not
functional on account of non-payment of dues to land owners. The BSNL says that
they are pursuing land owners telling them that the payments would be made in
due course. It is not only reeling under debt of more than Rs 30,000 crore, but
its costs and expenses are ever increasing. Worse, it is even mulling firing 35,000
employees, as their allowances and perks are already being denied.
The staff salary remained unpaid since
February. It was paid only in June. Currently, over 60 per cent of BSNL's
revenues and 90 per cent of MTNL's revenues are used to pay salaries. The
government is preparing a ‘revival plan’ for both BSNL and MTNL. It is exploring options to provide long-term
stability for their revival. The plan may include measures such as salary cuts,
and accountability of staff, in which employees have to either perform or
perish.
It is a sheer irony that despite crisis, the
total market share of BSNL rose between March 2017 and March 2019. During the
period 53.64 lakh subscribers joined BSNL and 28.27 exited. The MTNL has 1.35
lakh subscriber exits and a mere 10,195 joining it. The numbers suggest that
all the faults are not of the employees, as it is often alleged.
An analysis shows that the encouragement to
private players started some of the BSNL woes. Though most of the private
players were allowed to use BSNL and MTNL ports to start their operations, the
two companies were never properly compensated for it. It was believed that the
government-run organisations had the obligation to support the private
companies.
This helped the private operators. But all of
them tried to hit the government-run organisations’ business through unfair means.
The two companies headed by bureaucrats were slow to take remedial actions. The
employees alleged at different times that BSNL and MTNL were being weakened to
help the private players.
The numbers suggest that all the faults are
not of the employees, as it is often alleged. It is also true that BSNL and
MTNL employees and their exchanges did not give proper service to the
customers. The government also ignored it. Despite this, the companies were not
in losses till 2010. But a decision to ask them to pay spectrum charges in all
the circles they operated changed the dynamics. These started having losses.
It was a TRAI decision to create a
“level-playing field”. It forgot that the BSNL and MTNL were created to give a
service to the people and it had a heavy cost. The decision helped private
companies rake in profits, while it was the BSNL with 20 telecom circles and
MTNL too, were the telecom backbone not only in terms of voice services but
also data transfer.
Four years later, the decision dumped the companies
with huge losses. The Union Cabinet on January 9, 2014 decided to wave off
spectrum charges and refund upfront charges of about Rs 14,000 crore - Rs 6,724.51 crore, MTNL will get back Rs 4,533.97 crore plus
some more. Till date the amount has not been refunded. The objective of the
decision was to provide financial support and create conditions for their
smooth functioning.
Reviving the national backbone with accumulated
losses, debts and interest payments is not easy. Apart from boosting the morale
of the employees is a more difficult task. And it is often touted that the
government is doling out the finances as aid. But it is not the case. It
belonged to the company and a wrong decision pushed them to penury.
Indeed, there is need for a thorough probe.
There are similarities in pushing the voice and digital backbone to losses and
forcing the profit-making Air India and Indian Airlines to merge and be damned.
In both sectors, the immediate beneficiaries were the private companies. In the
case of Air India, it is now almost clear that it was part of a conspiracy. Suspicions
are there for BSNL and MTNL too. A detailed investigation may lead to appropriate
findings.
It is a wake-up call for the Narendra Modi
government, which is striving to ensure probity and propriety in functioning of
government undertakings. It ought to scrutinise many divestment programmes.
Even the best private telco remains unstable. Some of their promoters are in
heavy debt.
The government has, possibly realising the
importance of government telcos, decided to revive the companies. The digital
backbone has led the country to growth and now it yearns for support. The Modi
government has taken the right decision. The results need a watch.----INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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