BSNL Will Delay September Salary As Rs 74,000 Cr Revival Plan Rejected; Employees Will Strike

State-run telecom carrier BSNL is once again staring at a depressing festive season.

As per reports coming in, salary for September month will be delayed by atleast two weeks, as BSNL has no money to pay.

Govt has already rejected the Rs 74,000 crore bailout plan for BSNL, and this can be the reason for this.

Meanwhile, employees have decided to go on a lunch-break strike on October 1st.

BSNL’s September Salary Will Be Delayed

Salary for all BSNL employees for September will be delayed by atleast 15-20 days, as per insider information coming in.

Right now, BSNL is generating Rs 1400 crore per month in revenues, and Rs 800-850 crore is needed for paying salary for all 1.65 lakh employees.

This means that BSNL employees will face a tough time during Dussera festival. But by Diwali, they can get their salary.

An unnamed source informed: “There isn’t enough money coming in from internal accruals. Even though BSNL is generating about ?1,400 crore per month, this is not adequate to cover the wages, as a major portion of the proceeds is required for operational expenses and statutory payments,”

Besides salaries, the state-run PSU also needs to pay for operational expenses, so that the current telecom services is not disrupted. These expenses include: electricity bills, labour costs, rent (for towers and rural exchanges), transportation costs and fuel costs (vehicles and towers). 

This would be 4th default on BSNL salary, after it was delayed in February, then again in July and August.

Rs 74,000 Crore Revival Package Rejected

Meanwhile, Govt of India has rejected the Rs 74,000 crore revival package proposed by BSNL. This included Rs 29,000 crore spent on giving VRS to all employees who are above 60 years; Rs 11,000 crore spend for reducing retiring age from 60 to 58 years, and Rs 20,000 crore for expanding 4G services, and buying 4G spectrum.

The Centre didn’t find the revival package as feasible, and have asked BSNL to come up with another proposal.

Interestingly, in case BSNL is shut down, then Govt. will need to spend Rs 95,000 crore, in order to give VRS to all the employees.

BSNL employees has decided to conduct a lunch-hour protest on Oct 1st, against these issues.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.