Question : Assessment of BSNL

(a) whether Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is the only enterprise among the others Central Public Sector Enterprises which is facing excessive loss to the tune of more than Rs. 1000 crore;

(b) if so, the details thererof alongwith the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Government has conducted any study/assessment with regard to the services offered by the BSNL and if so, the details and the findings thereof including the reasons for the reported poor services offered by the said Public Sector Unit; and

(d) whether the Government has initiated any action against BSNL officials charged with dereliction of duty and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND
ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) & (b) As per information available in Public Enterprises Survey 2017-18 brought out by Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), the following eight (8) Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) have incurred losses more than Rs 1000 crores as on 31.03.2018.:-
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S.No. Name of CPSE
1 Bharat Coking Coal Ltd.
2 Western Coalfields Ltd.
3 Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd.
4 Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
5 Air India Ltd.
6 India Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd.
7 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)
8 Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
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As per the survey, the general reasons for losses / sickness in CPSEs vary from enterprise to enterprise. However, some common problems for sickness in CPSEs include old and obsolete plant and machinery, outdated technology, low capacity utilization, low productivity, poor debt–equity structure, excess manpower, stiff competition, heavy interest burden, etc.

Low tariffs due to stiff competition in mobile segment, high employee cost and absence of 4G services (except in few places for BSNL) in the data-centric telecom market are the main reasons for losses to BSNL.

(c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of telecom service providers including BSNL against the benchmark for various Quality of Service (QoS) parameters laid down by TRAI by way of QoS regulations issued from time to time, through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs).
As per latest PMR issued by TRAI, for the quarter ending March 2019, for Cellular Mobile Telephone Services, BSNL is meeting the benchmarks for all the parameters in all the service areas, except the parameters for assessing call drop in West Bengal Service area only. For Basic Wireline Telephone Services, BSNL is meeting the benchmarks for all the parameters in all the service areas, except the parameter for “Response time to the customer for Assistance” in Karnataka Service area only, which was 94.67% against the benchmark of >95%.

(d) BSNL has reported that disciplinary action is taken against officials for dereliction of duties as per BSNL Conduct Rules. BSNL has retired a total of eight (8) officials under periodical review of employees to maintain efficacy and probity under BSNL Conduct Rules during last three years. Details of Charge Sheets issued and Suspension of employees of BSNL during last three years are as under:
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S.
No. Year No. of Charge Sheets issued in vigilance cases No. of Charge Sheets issued for administrative reasons No. of suspension cases
1 2016-17 637 2 2
2 2017-18 558 17 55
3 2018-19 833 206 67
Total : 2028 225 124
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Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), Department of Telecommunications has informed that appropriate action is taken under relevant rules and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines, as and when the charges, including charges of lack of devotion to duty against officials working in / deputed to BSNL, are received. Number of officials against whom action has been taken during last three years are as under:
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Calendar Year No. of officials against whom action taken
2016 30
2017 53
2018 44
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